Lost in Translation
by Mari and Su
Summary: Mari and Su go to China... and find out what happens when a familiar story turns out to be anything but. A... re-imagining of the world of Fushigi Yuugi.
1. How Two Bakas Bail into a Book

It had all started moments before the final bell.

Su's eyes seized on the tome as her brain stuttered to a stop in it's usual calamity of thought and imagination. She'd been in the very back of the stacks, perusing the dusty volumes there as her brain tripped along on the project she'd been assigned in her sophomore history class. Puzzling out the intricacies of feudal China, she almost missed the title singing out to her from the shelves: The World Ruled by Multiple Gods.

It couldn't be. She refused the possibility of the book before her.

But here it was, now, in her hands, dust smearing on her sleeves as she strolled through the hallways of her high school, eyes searching out her friend in the mess of prep-school bimbos and jocks. Mari would probably never believe what Su had found, but the girl looked for her all the same. If she was right, she had to share this discovery - Mari would never forgive her if she didn't.

"Mari! MARI!" Su flung herself headlong down the hallway, eager energy seizing her as she spotted her friend. Mari heard Su coming long before she saw her, lifting her head just in time to watch her friend come careening down the hall. She slid to the side, making room against the row of lockers so Su could crash down beside her, the girl's face the picture of manic joy.

"What's got you so excited?" Mari drawled, flipping her textbook closed. From the look on her face, whatever Su had to tell her much was bound to be more interesting than math homework.

"You're never going to believe this." Su all but exploded, thrusting the book into Mari's face. "I found it in the library, of all places!"

"What is it?" Mari took the book, moving it a reasonable distance from her face so that she could actually read the cover, and deciding to hold her tongue on the probability of finding a book in the library.

"Read it! Read it!" Su bounced up and down, eyes flicking between Mari and the book. Mari sighed, rolling her eyes at her friend before scanning the title once more, wondering what she was missing.

"_The World Ruled By Multiple Gods_." Mari read aloud. "What is this for, World Religions or something?" She handed the book back to Su, shrugging casually as she waited for Su to fill in the missing point.

"No!" Su protested. "_The World Ruled By Multiple Gods_! What does that sound like to you?" Su pushed, waiting for the realization to dawn on Mari, and deflating as she only received a blank stare in return. "C'mon, Mari! 'The World', let's say... universe, instead? Ruled by 'Multiple Gods'? Like, four of them?"

"You're kidding, right?" Mari's face broke into a grin as she took the book back, turning it over in her hands. "What is it, a fan novel?" Moving to crack the cover, she yelped as Su smacked her hand. "Hey!"

"Don't open it!" Su warned, eyes wide. Mari snorted inelegantly, handing the book back.

"Su..." Mari sighed, looking at her friend. "It's just a book." Su trailed her fingers over the cover, looking at it longingly before giving a huge sigh.

"I know, I know." Her face grew a bit sad as she looked back up at Mari. "I guess I just let my imagination run away with me, you know?" She leaned back against the lockers, closing her eyes. "The school year is almost done, and with you going away to college in the fall... I guess an adventure just seemed nice. Even if it was only imagined."

Mari smiled softly, looping her arm over Su's shoulder and pulling the girl into a hug. "Tell you what? Take it home and read it tonight. Let me know if that thing is worth reading when you're done with it." Su nodded, forcing a smile to her lips. "Besides, I can't blame you. Running away to China seems like a much better alternative to deciding what I want to do with the rest of my life." Mari hopped to her feet, offering Su a hand and hoisting the girl up.

"See you tomorrow?" Su asked, tucking the book into her bag.

"You bet." Mari gave her a wave, turning to leave as the school day ended, dreading the mountain of homework waiting for her when she got home.

* * *

Her mother was late.

Again.

Su fell to sit on the sidewalk with a sigh, eyes drifting to the bag slumped at her side. She had wanted to wait until she was at home, alone in the quiet of her room with no interruptions to the story, but... Her mouth twisted with an excited grin as she pulled the antiquated tome from her bag, placing it across her knees and taking in the smell of the ancient paper as she ran her fingers over the cover, heart quickening in her chest.

_Here goes nothing._

Su's finger cracked open the cover, fingers plying the thin pages open somewhere near the center. Her eyes had just focused on the illustration that crossed the pages when a flash of bright red light enveloped her, the gasp on her lips going unheard as the book tumbled from her lap to fall shut beneath a nearby bush.


	2. Embrace the Inner Baka

Mari struggled along with her homework, her overworked brain protesting the calculations and equations.

_Almost there. A few more months and_– her thoughts were cut off by her father's voice calling up from downstairs.

"Mari! Phone call!"

Mari pushed her work away, chuckling at what she was sure was going to be an excited call from Su, filled with squeals and shrieks about her new book. The girl had probably found a drawing that proved the truth behind the characters or some detail in the story they had previously not known. "Hello?" The voice on the other end wasn't Su's, but rather that of the girl's mother, the woman frantic as she questioned Mari.

"Well, she wasn't at school when I got there. Her bag was sitting on the sidewalk out front. You're sure she's not with you? I won't be mad! Did you drop her off somewhere, maybe?" Mari did her best to calm the nervous woman, anxiety growing in her own chest as she hung up the phone. Su would never leave her bag behind on the sidewalk. Especially not if...

_No._ Mari shook her head at the ridiculous thought, snorting to herself. _You're getting as bad as Su with these thoughts._

A sudden, sharp groan cut through her imaginings, Mari twisting in her chair to find the source of the sound. It came again, a muted moan of pain, followed by a soft curse. Mari peered into the shadows of the room, the bright afternoon light streaming through the window to reveal... no one.

"Hello?"

_Mae?_

"Su?!" Mari threw open her closet doors, looked under her bed, even flipped up the duvet. The voice was here, but the girl wasn't. "Where are you? Your mother is going crazy looking for you."

_Oh god_. The voice came again as Mari spun in place, blinking, convinced her mind was playing tricks on her. _You are never going to believe this._

* * *

Su cowered in a small alleyway, watching the strange people move through the streets as her friend's voice echoed through her head.

_Believe what? Su, your mom is looking for you, she's really worried. Where are you?_

"Mae, I... think I'm in Konan."

_Oh, you have _got _to be kidding me! Was this what that whole thing at school was about? So you could play a joke on me?_ Su could hear the edge of tension in her friend's voice, wincing under the accusation._ Very funny, you got me. Now come out!_

"Mari, I'm not joking!" Su pressed, her voice growing watery with tears. A few passers-by peered into the alley at her outburst, looking for the source before shaking their heads and walking away again.

_No... no way. There is no way!_ Mari sputtered in her mind. _It was just a book!_ Even as she objected, her mind flooded with images of the strange city, causing her to blink and stagger back into her chair. _How are you in my head?_

"I dunno. Maybe it's like Miaka and Yui's uniforms? Something is keeping us connected." Su offered quietly. Worlds away, Mari looked down at herself, wondering what could be linking them together, hands rummaging through pockets and over her clothing until her fingertips rested on the string of glass beads around her neck. The odd twin in the set Su had made them both. Small mirrors of the ones their favorite characters in the story had worn, a private joke between the two girls. Su heard Mari's realization in the garbled chaos of her friend's mind, clutching to her own necklace. "I made them together... with the same beads. The same thread."

_This... this is impossible. This can't be happening!_

"I was going to wait until I got home." Su whispered. "Mom was late, and I got bored. I didn't think anything of it, just flipped it open to the middle. But then there was a flash of light. I thought someone had hit me on the head or something, and then I woke up here." There was a pause as Su sought for the right words. "Mari, I'm scared." She couldn't bite back the tears anymore as she looked out onto the alien landscape. The city was so strange but so familiar at the same time, teeming with people and intricate details she never had imagined. Trying to tempt her out of safety with the spark of beauty and adventure.

_Are you safe for now?_ Mari's voice was tinged with worry.

"I'm in an alley." She could hear Mari snort her surprise.

_Get out of the alley. Find a cop...a guard. Someone important looking. Ask for help and sit tight._

"What are you going to do?" Su sniffled, choking back the tears falling down her face. She scrubbed them away with the sleeve of her shirt, looking at the familiar garment and realizing how strange she would look when she stepped out of her protective shadows.

_Do you still have the book?_

"No. I think I dropped it on the sidewalk in front of the school." Su retraced what she could remember. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure I did." Mari heaved a sigh, the sound rattling through her head.

_Stay safe. I'll... figure out something. Just wait for me, ok?_

"Hurry!"

* * *

"Where are you going?" Mari's mother called to her as she raced down the stairs, grabbing her keys from the bowl by the door and she yanked it open. Mari stilled, telling the first lie that came to her.

"I, uh, left a book I need at school." She explained with a shrug.

"Isn't the school closed for the day?"

"I had a friend grab it for me. I'm just going to go pick it up. I shouldn't be long." This seemed enough to placate her mother, and the woman turned back to the television.

"Be home in time for dinner."

"Right." Mari ran out the door, trying her best not to slam it behind her as she ran for her car, keying the engine to life as she raced for the school. Su's thoughts chattered through her mind as she drove; little disjointed things fluttering through the back of Mae's panicked brain. Fear as she stepped out of her safe hiding space. As the people looked at her. Discomfort at feeling out-of-place. Her insecurity as she realized she had no idea who would be right to ask for help. "The ones with armor. Look for a seal or something. Something to denote their ranks. If you are actually in Konan, it should be a phoenix." Mari suggested, almost chuckling at the ridiculous nature of the statement. Giving advice to a girl lost in feudal China, just your average Wednesday.

_Right._ Su's thoughts ordered themselves some. _I see a really big building in the center of the city. I think it might be the palace._

"Then try near there. There should be someone around that area. Just be careful." The chatter resumed, arranging itself into an almost chant as Su assured herself over and over that she could do this. That there was nothing to be afraid of. That her friend was coming to help her. Mari pulled her car into the parking lot, having a enough presence of mind to actually park it in a marked spot before jumping out, the engine still running. She scoured the sidewalk, looking for any clue on the bare pavement. "Where were you sitting?"

_What?_

"On the sidewalk? Where were you sitting?"

_On the end, near the bushes._

Mari took off running, sliding to a stop at the large row of bushes that blocked the school from the view of the road, finding the sidewalk empty here as well. She fell to her stomach, peering into the shadows under the greenery in the dying light. Her hand stretched out, groping blindly until it rested on something that didn't feel like dirt or roots. "Got it!" She dusted off the cover, tucking it under her arm as she returned to her car, closing the door and flipping on the light as the day fell away into night. "Now what?"

_I just opened it to the middle._

"I can't believe I'm doing this..." Mari sighed, placing the book against the steering wheel as she opened the book to the first page. "_The Universe Ruled by Multiple Gods_. Well, that's useless." Mari flipped the page, eyes scanning the next page for a clue, a hint, a flash of light. Anything that would help her find Su.

**_"This story is about a woman who reached her dreams by coming to collect all the stars of the Beast God. She gained the powers of a god, and was gifted all that she desired. The tome before you is a spell in itself. The one who reads it will join the woman in the story, blessed with the powers of a true warrior of the Beast God, and given a wish._**

**_And the story begins with the turning of the first page."_**

"That's not how I remember it." Mari sighed, waiting for something, anything, to happen. She licked a finger tip, turning the page to read the next one, hoping that this one would have an answer for her instead. She was halfway through the first paragraph when a blue light flashed in her eyes, blinding her as the world went dark.


	3. One Flew Over Suzaku's Nest

Su was creeping toward the middle of the bustling market when the sound, the feeling, of Mari fled from her mind. One minute the dim murmur of her thoughts were a soft comfort, the next - nothing. Her friend was gone. The calm that the connection to Mae had brought Su disappeared in an instant, nausea rolling in her stomach as her mind whirled, searching for the voice.

"Mae?" She whispered, feet halting her in the middle of the busy foot traffic. "Mari?" He voice escalated, cracking shrill, drawing annoyed stares from passersby that had already been distracted by the strangely dressed foreigner in their midst. "Mari!" Where had her friend gone? What was happening? What did she do in this strange land?

Her vision went white at the corners as the panic took over, hands shuddering uncontrollably as she clutched at the front of her shirt, a thin whimper leaving her mouth as she whipped her head around, searching for any sign of someone official looking, some sign of a person who might be able to help her. Anyone. The palace. She had to get to the palace. Su broke into a run, roughly forcing her way through the thick crowd, voices rising angrily as she trod on feet, desperate to get to the huge building that loomed at the edge of the market.

"HALT!" The harsh voice rang out behind Su, pulling her to a stop. Whipping her head around, she spied the source of the voice easily, the burly armored men parting the crowd as they ambled toward her. Relief poured through her as the guards drew close.

"Oh, thank god, I was-"

"What do you think you're doing, causing a ruckus like that?" The lead guard snapped at the girl, grabbing and shaking her roughly by the shoulder. "What are you running from, girl?!"

"No, wait! I was trying to get to the palace to–" The guard cut her off with a scornful huff.

"What business have you there?"

"I..." Su paused, head still reeling. "I'm looking for my friend. I lost her, I don't–"

"You're lying." Her growled, a sneer splitting his face. "We'd know if there were two foreign women running around. Where are you from? Who sent you?"

_The future? A book? What do I tell him to convince him to get me in there?_ Su thought desperately, shaking her head helplessly under the mans angry gaze. "I know the Priestess of Suzaku." She blurted out, watching as the man's eyes widened in surprise. The tell-tale moment passed too quickly, his face turning hard and unforgiving once more.

"You're coming with us, girl." He dragged her in the direction of the palace, the watching crowd parting for the foreign girl and her unasked for retinue. The man kept a firm grip on her shoulder as he pulled her through the gates; her eyes darted over the familiar architecture, heart hammering in her chest as they approached the building that shone bright against the dark night sky.

"Where are we going?" Su tugged against the man's tight grip as he took an unexpected detour from the main entrance. "Where are you taking me?"

The man snorted with disdain. "We're taking you where we take all threats to Konan – the dungeon. The men there will find out what you're after, I can guarantee that." Su shrieked in protest, fiercely tugging against the man's rough hands as his backup fell into fighting stances around them.

"Let me go! I need to talk to the Priestess! I need to find Mari!" Su struggled with the man as he knocked her legs from under her, continuing on to the dungeons with her dragging behind. She struggled to stand and fight, but to no avail; he descended into the depths of the palace, the heavy door slamming shut on her screams.

* * *

The palm landed soundly against her face, pulling another panicked sob from her throat as she huddled further against the wall, arms coming up to protect her head from further blows. "Please! I need to speak to the Priestess. She'll know. She'll understand. Tell her I read the book, please?" Su had been begging the guards for hours; she couldn't tell the time in this dark, dirty room of revolving jailers. Men came and went, tactics changing, but the question always the same: Where had she come from? The man now was the first to use his hands. He'd slapped her around for the most part, but now he seized her protective arms, dragging her to her feet as he shook her soundly before his hand flew back once more.

"Did they send you? The Seiryuu? Kutou?"

"No! Please, I need to-" His hand cut her off, Su's ears ringing with the blow as she tasted blood, feeling the warmth roll down her chin. "Mari!" But Mari didn't answer, the reassuring weight of her presence still absent from Su's mind. The guard threw the girl to the ground in disgust, kicking dust from the hard-pack floor into her face.

"This is only going to get worse for you, girl. Whatever the Seiryuu told you, this isn't worth it. We'll make you talk, sooner or later." He shook his head as he walked from the cell. "Sooner would be better for you." Su lay on the ground, sobbing quietly into the grime beneath her cheek, barely enough time passing for her to comprehend his words before the next man came in, louder and rougher.

It would only get worse.


	4. Some Like it Sairo

Mari's eyes shot open, pupils flaring with pain in the bright light of the room. She flung a heavy arm over her eyes as her waking brain raced with thoughts. Where was she? What had happened? One minute she was in her car... Su! That damn book she had found in the library. Mari stretched out, seeking the tendrils of the girl's subconscious, but where the girl's thoughts had once been, nothing remained except an echoing darkness.

"Tokaki! Quickly, I think she's awake." A woman's voice hissed out beside her. Mari snapped back to reality, realizing for the first time that she was wrapped in a silk robe, tucked into cozy blankets as she reclined on soft, cool pillows. She struggled up from her prone position, eyes flying to the woman seated quietly at her bedside.

"Who are you?"

"Ah! You are awake." The woman smiled warmly at the girl. "You gave us quite the scare!" she turned back to the door as an elderly man walked, in, a small tray in his hands. "She is awake, Tokaki!"

"Great! Now I can see what that pretty face is doing falling into our crummy little town." He winked at her as he approached the bed.

"Where am I? Who are you? What's going on?!" Mari couldn't help the quick succession of questions, thoughts flying through her overtaxed mind and tumbling from her mouth before she could order them.

"One thing at a time, dear." the white-haired woman said gently. "I'm Subaru, and this is Tokaki–"

"The Byakko warriors?" Mari's blurted out in shock. "I'm in Sairo?!" Subaru sat back, blinking at Mari as Tokaki came to her side, resting the tray on a small table beside the bed.

"You know us, girl?" Tokaki's eyes narrowed as he stepped protectively toward Subaru, his hand curling over her shoulder. Mari cringed, wondering what she should tell them. What she could tell them so they would believe her.

"This is going to sound a little strange. I... I found this book." she tried to explain, wincing at how stupid she sounded, even to her own ears.

"Just like Suzuno." Subaru whispered quietly.

"Yes." Mari nodded. "Except I don't think I'm supposed to be here. The new priestesses already are, I think. My friend, Su... she's in Konan. I just need to find her. We're not supposed to be here." Tokaki made a small noise in the back of his throat before opening his mouth to speak.

"Konan's a long way from here, dear. You'd-"

"Mari." she cut him off with a sharp word.

"What?" Tokaki blinked at her as she interrupted him, sputtering to a stop.

"My name is Mari. Not 'dear'." She looked at him, her eyes fierce. "I just want to find my friend and go home." She sniffed back the tears that were threatening to fall, trying to look as dignified as she could bundled up in a strange bed. Subaru took pity on her, patting her hand as she handed her a cup of tea.

"Of course it is, Mari. Don't mind my husband. He's never had much tact." Tokaki snorted as Mari took a sip of the tea, the warm liquid easing her nerves as the warmth spiraled through her. She eagerly gulped down the rest as she suddenly realized how thirsty she was.

"Thank you." Mari murmured, her eyes growing heavy without any warning. "I'm sorry. I feel a bit strange. I'm just so... so tired." she yawned into her hand, leaning back into the pillows as she let her eyes fall closed, the cup of tea clattering on the floor as her hand fell limp to her side.

"I was afraid this might be the case." Subaru sighed, collecting Mari's forgotten cup from the floor and sniffing at it. "I think you might have overdid it a bit, my love." she scowled at the man, placing the cup neatly back on the tray. He only shrugged at her.

"She'll be fine. It was only a sleeping draught. Can't have her running off into the desert getting herself killed. Strange girl like that would kick up all sorts of trouble."

"Tokaki, what should we do with her?" She looked at her husband, uncertainty in her eyes. "Should we send word to Tatara?" He chewed on his thumbnail thoughtfully, weighing their options.

"Perhaps. He has a keen eye and a good manner for this sort of thing." He crossed his arms, leaning back against the wall as a tired sigh escaped him. "I don't know... we fought our war already, Subaru. Years ago. Our time is done. I say if the young lady wants to go to Konan, then to Konan she should go."

* * *

_Mari slept, her drugged sleep dark and dreamless. In the corners of her mind she could feel a great beast curling around her, its claws clattering as it closed in on her, scales making icy sounds as they scraped across the ground under its great weight._

_"Who's there? She cried out desperately, turning to find her stalker though she could see nothing but black. "What do you want?" The slithering stopped, a soft, heavy chuckle slicing through the dark and tickling her ears._

"That is no way to speak to your Lord."_ The voice wound around her, stern, but amused._ "Come, girl, show me the respect I am owed." _Mari felt a great weight bear down on her shoulders, pushing her to her knees roughly, her hands rushing forward to break her fall and leaving her prostrate in the dark._ "Ahhhhh, yes. Much better, my child."

_"Who are you?" She cried out, struggling to stand and finding herself pinned under an invisible weight._

"Ha!"_ it laughed at her, cold and detached._ "You know so much, and yet you do not know that? Foolish girl. You know who I am."

_"Seiryuu?" The word fell like a weight from her lips._

"Yes." t_he Beast God hissed his pleasure._ "I am He. And you… you are mine."

_"No." Mari gasped. "No, no please! I am not supposed to be here! Just let me find my friend and leave. I don't want any part in your war!" She pleaded with him in the dark, fingernails scratching against the cold ground. "Please! It's dark, and I'm scared. Just let me go!"_

"Hush, girl! You see fit to tell me what your purpose is?" _he roared, the sound deafening as it rang through her head._ "My designs are my own, and you would do well to cooperate, and be grateful. I have given you a great gift. A gift you will come to me and collect, because I wish it to be so."

_"Please..." Mari gasped, pleading with the last of her strength in the darkness, her forehead pressed to the cold ground. "Please leave me." She could feel him hiss his rage at her. Feel his hot breath on the back of her neck as she lay there, head bowed._

"You will come to me child. In my realm, not this wasted land, guarded by its prowling feline lord."_ His cold laugh rang once more in the dark, drawing goose-flesh from her skin. _"Deny me if you wish. You may try, but you will find that you can achieve no peace until you do. You will come to me, and I shall make you glorious."_ He roared, triumphant, shaking the ground under her with his passing as he left her alone and shivering in the dark. She collapsed to the ground, eyes falling closed in both fear and relief as the great weight was lifted. She felt herself drifting back into unawareness, only one thought left on her mind, burning like a parched man's desire for water._

Kutou. I must... I must go to Kutou.

* * *

To the south of where Mari lay in drugged sleep, Su took her own rest, curled on the floor of her cell, dirt and pain forgotten as her exhaustion became more than she could bear. Her dreams were plagued by harsh voices and rough hands that tried to pull answers from her when the ones she gave them weren't what they had wanted to hear. No matter how many truths she told them they beat her. Tore the cloth from her body and left her bruised, naked, and trembling. Bleeding out onto the cold earth as it drank the blood that ran from her skin. Left her alone in the dark, weeping and crying out for Mari, the girl's voice just a memory in the back of her mind.

"Hush now, my girl." _The hand on the back of her head startled her, a gasp falling from her lips as the fingers gently threaded through her hair, soothing it away from her face._ "You are dreaming. Find peace here, in this moment. You are safe. I will keep the dreams away."_ A warmth radiated from those fingers, feather light on her hair. She could feel the silken robes beneath her cheek where it was pillowed in his lap. Her pain slipped away from her, the cold leaving her body._

_"Suzaku." she breathed quietly, letting the last of her aches leave with the breath. He laughed softly, the sound vibrating in his chest._

"Yes."_ She could hear the smile on his lips._ "I am sorry, my child. My people are frightened. Perched on the brink of war. They do not always think through their actions as they should. You should never have been handled in this manner." _She only hummed a sound of understanding at him, the feeling of fingers stroking her hair making her eyes grow heavy._ "They will not touch you so again. I shall see to it. I wish to give you a gift, if you will let me." _Su pulled herself back to wakefulness, her eyes fluttering open. She dared not look at his face, but she nodded quietly, letting her eyes fall onto the lavish silks that rested over his knees instead, her fingers touching the folds that pooled on the floor around him._

_"I am grateful, but I don't think I am the one you wanted to give it to." She whispered softly, frightened despite Suzaku's comforting presence. "I'm not supposed to be here."_

"Ahhh," _he sighed softly,_ "I see. Nevertheless, I still wish it, should you want it." _He soothed her gently like a small child, banishing the monsters and doubts with his quiet voice._

_"Ok." she nodded. "If it's what you want."_

"It is." _She felt a heat seep into her, white-hot, though it did not burn her. Running through her veins as it spiralled to her heart, beating in time with her pulse. She gasped under the weight of it, the wild intensity unexpected._ "Let this keep you safe as you walk this world and do the work you are meant to." _She felt him pulling away from her, lifting her to her knees as he slipped away, taking his light away as the blackness seeped back._

_"But what am I supposed to do? Please! Don't leave me!" His face hovered on the edge of the darkness, smiling at her, radiant in its beauty. _

"I am sorry, my child. But you must wake now." _He disappeared, drifting from her vision, leaving her alone again, enveloped in darkness once more._

"I said, wake up!" Su's eyes flew open to see a booted foot fly toward her face, closing her eyes again as she braced herself for the cruel impact that never came. Red bloomed across her vision as a cry ripped from the man, his voice cracking as a great crash rang in her. When she opened her eyes again, he lay crumpled against the opposite wall of her cell. The two guards in the hall gaped at her, one running from his post to check on the unconscious man, his eyes darting between her and his fallen brother. Su scrambled up against the wall, her hands flying to her mouth in shock, eyes wide.

"He's alive." He growled. "Just hit his head." He looked at Su again, face stuck somewhere between fear and anger. "Get the Emperor."

"What?" the guard still in the hall sputtered his surprise at his comrade. "But she-"

"Get him!" he barked, getting to his feet and leveling his spear at Su. "NOW!" She squeaked nervously as he advanced on her, a faint red glow emanating from her skin as he grew closer. "He needs to see this..."


	5. Ladies and Gentlemen, the Suzaku Seven

Mari struggled to swim up from the depth of her dreams, all of her strength needed to force her heavy eyelids open. The room was cast in the soft glow of the late afternoon, trailing shadows crisscrossing her ceiling in the golden light. Her mind spun a curious web from her dream as voices whispered nearby, her name drifting in to her on a breeze. She shook her head, scattering the cobwebs as she struggled to sit up.

"Here, Mari, let me help you with that." Subaru was at her side again, the older woman helping her sit up and settle into the thick pillows behind her.

"What happened?" Mari frowned, her mind still hazy from the effects of the potion. "Did... did you drug me?" She demanded. Subaru sighed, settling back into the chair by Mari's bedside.

"I'm afraid Tokaki did, Mari. He felt it best to take certain... precautions. To ensure your safety, of course."

"Of course..." Mari frowned at the woman, eyes drifting away from her to take in the change of scenery. "Did you move me while I was unconscious?"

"Why, yes dear. We thought it for the best." Subaru leaned forward, patting Mari on the knee, a small smile lighting her face once more. "You see, when you mentioned you had come here after a friend we thought it might be wise to-" The door to the small room opened suddenly, cutting Subaru off as a small group entered. Mari felt a small anxiety bloom in her heart as her eyes leapt from face to familiar face. Hotohori. Tasuki. Chichiri. Tamahome. She knew them immediately, even though she had never met them.

They had brought her to Konan. The heart of the Phoenix. The center of the fire. The words the dragon god had imparted echoed through her head. As much as she wanted to see Su, ensure her friend's safety, the summons she had received changed everything - this was the worst place for a girl haunted by Seiryuu. She could feel the call to Kutou rumbling in her bones even now, setting her teeth and nerves on edge.

"Lady Subaru." Hotohori nodded to the older woman as she rose to bow to the young emperor. "Thank you for keeping an eye on our guest."

"Of course, Your Majesty. Tokaki and I are happy to help the children of Suzaku. If you no longer need us, we will take our leave now." As the emperor nodded his consent, Subaru took the young man's hands in her own, bowing her forehead to the slender fingers. "I hope your journey is not a cruel one." She cast Mari one last small smile. "Best of luck, Mari. I hope you find your friend." Subaru embraced the girl gently. A strange sensation flitted through Mari, a soft voice whispering in her head.

_If you should need me..._

Mari moved to pull away, to look the woman in the face, but Subaru was already leaving the room, Tasuki and Tamahome moving to stand before the closing door. She contemplated the men before her - the two standing guard; Hotohori quietly settling into the chair Subaru had occupied moments before; Chichiri close at his shoulder. Their postures spoke to caution, their expressions guarded. Hotohori's curious eyes studied Mari's face in the growing silence. The false smile of Chichiri's mask did nothing to assuage Mari's growing anxiety. What was going on here? What had happened with Su?

"Lady Mari." the emperor's voice was quiet, patient. "I am the emperor of Konan, the Suzaku warrior Hotohori. You were brought to my palace by the Byakko warriors early this morning. They claim you are a girl from beyond our time, much like our priestess, Miaka. They said you've mentioned a friend, another girl who–" A loud banging on the door interrupted Hotohori, drawing their collective attention.

"Your Majesty! There's an emergency in the dungeons. The warden requested your presence, Highness!" The voice outside the door was shrill and panicked, drawing the emperor to his feet and toward the door.

"Tasuki, with me. Tamahome, Chichiri, please stay here and... discuss the situation with Lady Mari." He gave her a perfunctory nod. "Please excuse me, my lady." With that he was gone, the door falling shut behind him.

* * *

A high-pitched scream rent the air as Hotohori and Tasuki descended to the dungeon, hastening their steps toward the rattling of armor and clanking of spears. Weapons sprung to the hands of the two warriors, minds at edge as they whirled a corner, approaching a small antechamber that glowed with an eerie light.

From her position on the floor, Su felt her heart drop as she saw the arrival of reinforcements. The guards had surrounded her moments after the strange fire emanating from her skin had slashed at another man. They had her pinned down with their weapons, eyes wide and frantic as their spears and swords bounced and clanged from the light around her. She shrieked and yelped with each ringing clash, expecting each and every jab to break through the light and run her through. Another flare caught a third man cross the shoulders, knocking him back toward the new arrivals. She cried out again as the attack intensified.

Pushing their way through the men crowded to the door to the cell, the two warriors were confronted with the chaos of the room – frantic red light emanating from a huddled body in the corner of the cell, guards pursuing their attack futilely.

"Cease this at once!" Hotohori roared across the room, his voice drawing the men to attention, "Is this how you treat prisoners of Konan? With cruelty and abuse?" The men fell into a trained line before the emperor, eyes still on the creature crouched in the corner.

"Please your Majesty – she's dangerous." spoke the highest ranking man. "It's a strange power, the light..."

Hotohori's eyes fell to the body curled on the floor, taking in the long hair, the terrified eyes that flickered between the guards and himself, and the red light that pulsed around her, drawing his curiosity. "Tasuki, please see to the girl."

The terror clanged too loudly in Su's brain for her to make any sense of the situation, to recognize the faces now before her. Filled with panic at the strange surroundings, the spears that had crashed toward her only moment before, she felt her heart speed up as one of the new men approached her. A sharp metal object was clutched tight in one hand, his eyes narrowing as he slowly approached. What did he have? Why had the guards called him? What was he going to...

Hotohori heard the keening in her throat a moment too late. "Tasuki, your tessen!" The crackle of the light that flared from the girl cut the emperor off, hitting the red-haired warrior with a dull thud across the midsection, knocking him off his feet with a sickening crunch. "Tasuki!" Hotohori rushed to the boy's side, a relieved exhalation parting his lips as he found a pulse in the prone man's neck. Setting his sword down beside Tasuki's unconscious body, Hotohori rose slowly, turning toward the girl where she cowered against the wall.

"Your Majesty!" protested the men at his back, spears at the ready in an instant, sparking a flare in the fiery light that surrounded the girl.

"Silence. Weapons down." He raised both hands before him, forcing calm over his mind, approaching the girl as one would a wild, wounded animal. Her eyes flickered to his bare hands, his empty scabbard, coming to rest on his face, a measuring look crossing her visage. He held nothing. He offered his hands in sign of peace, eyes calm, a small smile tilting his lips as he approached her. Could she trust him? "Please." he said. "Please, my lady. We need to talk to you. I won't hurt you." He stood before her, gently reaching out with a hand toward her. "I just need you to drop your magic. I need you to trust me." Su reached tentatively toward the man, the glow falling away from her skin as she touched his hand, relief coursing over her as it disappeared. He pulled her to her feet, the sudden change in position making her head spin, her heart pounding fiercely in her over-exerted state. Her legs went weak, body shaking as darkness plucked at the corners of her vision. She stumbled, leaning heavily on the man at her side as he led her from the room, her mind still reeling in confusion. "Please see that Tasuki is brought before the Lord Mitsukake at once. And I want each of you to report to me this evening." The man's voice was hard, familiar as it doled out commands with ease. "Your behaviour in this situation is reprehensible. Clearly the Konan dungeons are not being run to my standards. This merits a serious discussion."

"Yes, your Highness!"

_Your Highness? Mitsukake? Tasuki? Am I...? Is this really Konan? Are these - did I just attack Suzaku's warriors?!_

* * *

"How is this possible?" Mari looked around her, at the warm golden light streaming across the room. The lush greenery just beyond the windows. "I was in Sairo last time I was awake. There is no way we could have come all this way in one afternoon." Her hand rose to her head, trying to still the world as it spun around her, the sleeping drug still clinging to her weakly. Looking at the two men desperately, she tried to throw the coverlet aside as she struggled to her feet, weak legs rebelling against her as she tripped and fell into Chichiri's waiting arms.

"Please," he urged her to sit again, holding her arms firmly until he was sure she wouldn't struggle against him, "you're in no condition to move right now, you know?" She looked at him, trying to peer past the smiling mask to the man underneath, tears coming to her eyes.

"How long have I been sleeping? Please, tell me - I need to find Su!"

"They spoke true." Tamahome offered from the doorway. "Master... Tokaki, I mean. He has a way of speeding travel. It took quite a bit of his energy to get you here this quickly. You should be grateful to them." The boy's face was unreadable as he looked at her from his post.

"Tamahome's right, you know? They used magic to bring you here to us so quickly. It would have taken weeks otherwise, you know? Sairo is a long way from here." Chichiri explained gently.

"Oh." They said it like is was such a simple thing. Like it happened every day. Warriors appearing from nowhere. Strange girls falling from the heavens.

"The Byakko mentioned another girl?" Chichiri pressed, relaxing his grip as Mari settled back onto the pillows, curling in toward herself as the two men stared her down. "Who is she?"

"I'm not looking for Miaka, if that's what you're afraid of." Mari assured them, watching as Tamahome's back stiffened as she spoke the girl's name. "Her name is Su. Last time I spoke to her, well not spoke..." Her hands trailed to her neck, her eyes growing wide as she found nothing but bare skin under her fingertips. "My necklace! Where is it? No wonder I can't hear her. Oh, gods, she must have been calling me all this time!" She lunged forward, her fingers twisting into the fabric of Chichiri's shirt as she all but shook him. "Where is it?" An instant later, Tamahome's arms locked around her, pulling her away and pinning her down on the bed.

"You need to calm down." he spat at her through clenched teeth, pushing her down until she stopped struggling. "You're not going to win anyone's favor acting like this."

"Please." Mari cried, tears falling down her cheeks. "Please, I just need it back."

"Tamahome, why don't you go see if the Byakko brought any of the Lady Mari's personal effects with them?" Tamahome opened his mouth to protest, but Chichiri only met him with a raised palm, stilling him before he could make things worse with his blustering. "Thank you, Tamahome." Mari sniffed as he released her, reluctantly leaving the two alone.

"I'm sorry." Mari rubbed her cheeks dry with the heel of her hand. "This is all so strange. We... we shouldn't be here at all. This isn't meant for us. I just want to find Su and go home."

"And where is that?" He asked, lowering himself to the chair so he could look her in the eyes. "Your home?"

"Ah, how do I explain this?" She sniffed, sitting back, trying to find the most sane way to explain it to him. "I come from the same time, the same world as the Priestess... Miaka, but the other side of it. Does that make any sense?" She ran her hands through her short hair in frustration, letting them rest on the back of her neck as she sighed, trying not to lose her composure again. "I know it sounds crazy."

"I've heard stranger tales." The masked grin grew wider as he looked at her, patting her knee gently. She smiled weakly at him, the first he had seen of her since she arrived, sleeping soundly in Tokaki's arms that morning. It surprised him, seeing the expression cross her face, no matter how fleeting. Surprised him that she was trying to be brave.

"Here." Tamahome let himself back in without warning, tossing a bundle in Chichiri's lap before returning to his post at the door. "They said they threw most of her clothing out, but they saved these things." The monk pulled back the careful wrapping, looking at the contents within. He pushed aside the strange crumpled green rectangles of paper and the few coins. Currency from her world, perhaps? A strange white and black stick that leaked ink from its tip, staining his finger. A few pairs of jeweled earrings he assumed belonged in the tiny holes in her bare earlobes. A silver ring.

"Oh." The gasp fell unexpectedly from his lips as his fingers touched upon the small necklace at the bottom of the bundle, fingertips trailing over the small red and green beads in a familiar pattern. A prayer for each small red bead, a blessing for the green. He reached for the larger twin hanging around his own shoulders, his gaze flicking back up to hers, looking for an answer to a question he hadn't yet asked as he lifted the smaller replica, letting it hang in the air between them.

"Oh, thank god!" Mari snatched it before he could stop her, clasping the beads around her neck with fumbling fingers. Her eyes clamped closed as she focused all her concentration, calling for her friend.

_Su?! Su, can you hear me? Su!_

Chichiri clamped his hands over his ears, trying to drown out the mental voice that shrieked through his skull.


	6. My Dinner with Hotohori

_What magic is this?_ His panic flooded her consciousness, startling her back to focus._ How is this possible?_ He fought the mental intrusion, mind rebelling, trying to push her thoughts from his head. Mari clutched her hair, thoughts a disjointed garble of fear, confusion, and desperation as she both called for Su and balked under the strange new feeling of Chichiri's panicked voice.

_I don't know-_

_This isn't supposed to-_

_Su, where are you?_

_This isn't right. You're not supposed to-_

_Su? Why won't she answer?_

_Why is this happening?_

"Stop!" Chichiri's voice cut through Mari's inner discord, his hands darting to her neck, pulling the necklace from her shoulders with swift fingers. The man sighed in relief as his mind stilled, Mari's alien panic subsiding until only his remained, familiar and measurable.

"Why isn't she answering?" Mari pleaded with Chichiri as she reached for the necklace in his hands. "Please, I need to – she should be able to hear me. That's how we communicated when she first came here."

"I'm sorry." Chichiri shook his head, his heart sinking as he watched tears well in the eyes of the girl before him. "Until I know what magic this is, I can't give you the necklace. It's too dangerous; we don't even know who you are, you know?" Mari groaned in frustration, falling back into the pillows as hot tears rolled down her cheeks.

"It's not fair! I need to find my friend..."

Tamahome's voice cut in harshly, "Look, we don't know who you are. The Byakko warriors are friends, but you just appeared from nowhere. We don't know if you're a Kutou spy, or worse!"

"Tamahome, please." Chichri sighed, leaning towards the bed and offering the girl a small cloth for her tears. "I'm sorry, Mari. Times are... tense. Our relations with Kutou are strained, and the emperor and his counselors are unsure of who we can trust. Our priestess Miaka has proven herself. We have no evidence of your story. We can't know why you are here until the reason shows itself."

* * *

Su let the emperor lead her up the stairs to the palace proper, lost in trying to process the developments of the past hour. Her dreams taunted her, the memory of what had occurred eluding her. She could feel something important had happened, but all her mind would offer her was the memory of silken robes, fingers combing her hair and... the rest was lost in the brilliant red light that had surrounded her as she woke.

The magic. It was gone now, leaving no trace behind. But moments before it had surrounded her with a powerful shield, blocking the violent attempts of the soldiers, striking out with her fear. Injuring one of Suzaku's warriors. What was going on here, anyway?

Hotohori kept his arm carefully over the girl's shivering shoulders, leading her quietly down the palace hallways to the wing the warriors were staying in. The power she had displayed in the dungeons had been impressive to say the least; if his assumptions were correct, he had a powerful new weapon in the fight against Kutou.

"I'm sorry." The voice from the emperor's side interrupted his musings, his gaze dropping to the girl leaning against him. "I'm so sorry, your Highness. I didn't mean to hurt anyone. I was... I was scared." A sniffle punctuated her apology, wrinkling Hotohori's elegant brow.

"Please, Lady..?"

"Su. It's Su."

"Lady Su, then. What you displayed was a rare and unique gift – it was encouraging to see. Our priestess has no power to speak of; the magic you displayed is a welcome gift from Suzaku in our fight against Seiryuu."

"But I don't want to fight anyone!" the girl protested, watery eyes turning to meet Hotohori's gaze. "I just want to find my friend and go home!" A frown marred the perfect beauty of the emperors face as he paused, contemplating her worried gaze, his arm still supporting the girl protectively. He slowly shook his head, thinking of the other girl he had seen this morning, the similarities between the two; the differences. If this girl was a warrior for Suzaku, who, or what had summoned the Lady Mari?

More importantly, was it wise to allow them to see each other? To allow this new weapon from his careful guidance?

"I'm afraid you have no choice, Lady Su." Hotohori murmured. "If Suzaku has a plan for you, there's little you can do to stray from that path."

* * *

"... It is most strange." The emperor mused. "The legend never heralded anyone beside the seven and the priestess." The warriors around the table nodded slowly, searching their own knowledge of the myth.

"The power you describe the Lady Su displaying is most curious, you know?" Chichiri murmured. "Is Tasuki okay?" Mitsukake inclined his head, his low voice rumbling in confirmation.

"His ribs were fractured along his left side, nothing too serious, though the blow gave him a bit of a concussion. I kept him under to speed the healing. He should be waking shortly."

"Chichiri, what came of your conversation with the Lady Mari?" All eyes at the table turned toward the monk, the blue-haired man searching for the right words to describe his strange experience.

"She has a... strange artifact she brought from her world with her." He hedged, an unexpected hesitation to reveal their odd psychic connection coming over him.

"Ha, strange doesn't even begin to explain it." Tamahome sat back in his chair, crossing his arms. "She kept begging for her necklace. Stirring up a fit until 'Chiri handed it to her. As soon as she put it on he was holding his head like it was going to fall of his shoulders, screaming for her to stop!" A hush fell over the room as Tamahome shared this information, the assembled party holding their breath in an anxious anticipation as their eyes all fell to Chichiri for explanation. He shifted uncomfortably under their collective gaze, trying to explain as clearly as he could.

"It holds some sort of magic, you know? She claimed she needed it to find her friend, Su. When she put it around her neck... I could hear her. Calling out for the other girl in her mind." His hand unconsciously rose, fingers resting on his temples as he remembered Mari's panic bubbling inside his mind. "I could feel what she felt, you know? I don't think she meant me any harm. I truly believe she is as afraid as she says she is. That she can't comprehend her presence among us."

"However, the Lady Su... she has indeed been blessed by Suzaku. There is no denying that after the display we witnessed." Hotohori bowed his head. "And the two girls have asked for each other by name. From all the information presented, I believe she speaks true, and that she and the Lady Su are indeed friends." He rested his chin regally upon his laced fingers, contemplating the table in front of him as if the answers he needed rested in the wood grain.

"If one is blessed by Suzaku..." Nuriko added his voice to the conversation cautiously. He had spent time with their priestess. Long hours talking in private, sharing stories and secrets. He knew of Miaka's lost friend, the girl by the name of Yui who had fallen prey to the Seiryuu. The girl they had all feared had been dropped in their laps by the Byakko until Miaka had laid eyes upon the sleeping girl, shaking her head sadly.

"Then who brought the other one?" Mitsukake finished quietly. It was a cruel thought, but one they had to consider. If Miaka and her friend had been summoned by the gods to be pitted against each other, there was a very real chance the same could be said for these two girls, as well.

"Where is the Lady Su now?" Chichiri inquired of Hotohori quietly, following a loose train of thought as the mystery of the necklace gnawed at him.

"I've moved her to a more comfortable room in the guest quarters to rest." He offered, frowning as he remembered the state the girl was found in. "I've had what remains of her effects brought to her, as well a clean change of clothing and a warm meal. It's the least I could offer after..." he fell silent, suddenly deeming the subject unfit for discussion.

"Have they been allowed to see each other?" the monk pressed.

"No. I didn't think it wise."

"Perhaps it would ease both girls if they knew of each others safety?" Mitsukake offered. "I was planning on visiting the Lady Su after my meal to see if she was in need of healing. Perhaps I could take the Lady Mari with me? I am sure her presence will do much to sooth the Lady Su's distress, and it will make my work easier." Hotohori sighed, his reluctance evident. But after the trials the young woman had endured, he didn't feel it was right to deny the girl a small comfort.

"Very well. Chichiri, would you accompany him, please?" The monk nodded silently, both he and Mitsukake rising as they decided that this was something that shouldn't wait until after they had eaten.

"If you'll excuse us, highness." The two men left the room, their fellow warriors watching them nervously as they left them with their meals.


	7. A Little Off the Tasuki, Please

Su sat on the lavish bed, finally alone as the last of the servants left her, lighting the lanterns in her room to stay the darkness as night fell, leaving her with a steaming tray of food and her thoughts. She could feel her mouth watering, and realized she hadn't eaten in over a day. She kneeled at the small table, the silk cushions cradling her knees, a far cry from the cold earthen floor she had woken up on that morning. All this afforded to her because of that wild, red light.

A blessing, Hotohori had called it. She still couldn't believe it. It felt like a dream. Like something unreal. She was surrounded by strangers with familiar faces. A small, girlish part of her told her she should be delighted. That this was something out of a storybook. But still, she couldn't shake the fear that clung to her mind. Couldn't ignore the truth that no matter how familiar the faces were, she knew nothing about the men who wore them beyond simple stories and ideas. They were strangers to her.

She shook her head, banishing the thoughts momentarily as she brought a spoonful of broth to her lips, sighing as the flavor blossomed on her tongue. Suddenly, the spoon was too small. She lifted the bowl to her lips, drinking deeply as her hunger overtook her, choking on the liquid as a knock echoed in the quiet of the room. She dropped the bowl to the tray, panic overtaking her as she feared the guards had returned to announce a mistake, to drag her away again.

"Who's there?" She called out cautiously, ears straining to hear the response.

"Su?"

"Mari!" She was on her feet in a moment, running toward the door as she threw it open, launching herself into Mari's arms without a second thought. Mari caught her, the two falling to their knees as they wrapped their arms around each other. "I'm so glad you're safe! I couldn't hear you anymore. I thought..." her words died in her throat as Mari's arms tightened around her shoulders, pulling tears to her eyes.

"Perhaps you would both be more comfortable seated inside?" Chichiri offered tactfully, startling Su. She hadn't seen them there, standing guard at Mari's side. When she searched Mari's face, Su could see her friend's nervousness written there. The two clung to each other, looking at the men with scared eyes. "Don't worry, we're not going to hurt either of you, you know? We thought it might be nice for you two to be able to see each other again. Mitsukake only wants to make sure any injuries are seen to." Su didn't know what to make of the kindness she had been afforded so suddenly, looking to Mari for reassurance.

"Go with him. I'll be right here. I promise, I'm not going anywhere." Mari gave her hand a squeeze before letting Mitsukake gently lead Su back into the room, murmuring gentle reassurances to the girl as he sat her down, inquiring upon her health and well-being. "I'm not going anywhere, right?" She turned her eyes to Chichiri, looking up at him nervously.

"No." He answered, hesitation stalling him for a moment. "Not right now. This is very strange to us, but you both have been truthful. There are just some questions that still need answers, you know?" She nodded, wondering what she could say to make these people trust her. What Su had managed to do that she could not. Deep in her mind, she feared they could hear it. The constant ringing that was echoing in her skull, trying to drag her away. A flash of green distracted them both, and they looked up to find Mitsukake's hands resting on either side of Su's head as he focused, eyes closed as he breathed deeply.

"That should help you sleep some." He opened his eyes, offering her a smile as the glow subsided. "The rest will ease over time. Your hurt was not as great asHis Highness had led me to believe. For that I am glad." He rose to his feet, offering Su a small pat on the shoulder. "I believe Chichri has a few questions for you both. Please send a servant should you have need of me." He left himself out quietly, leaving the three in an awkward silence.

"May we sit?" Chichiri offered, gesturing to the silk cushions pooled around the small table. The two girls complied, sitting quietly, eyes trained on him as they waited for him to speak. He found suddenly that he didn't know where to begin. Instead of speaking, he reached into a pocket, drawing out Mari's small necklace and depositing it on the table in between them.

"Oh." Mari's gaze fell to it, nervously flicking to Chichiri and back to the trinket.

"Your necklace!" Su cried, reaching for it. Both Chichiri and Mari watched as she scooped it up, turning it over in her hands. "Is this why I couldn't hear you?"

"What magic is this?" Chichiri asked curiously. "That lets you speak within your mind like that."

"Magic?" Su looked at him, confused. "What do you mean?"

"They gave me my necklace back this afternoon." Mari explained. "I couldn't hear you when I put it on," her gaze fell to Su's bare throat, noting that her friend's necklace was missing as well, "but I could hear him."

"What? How?" Su asked, hand flying to her throat, suddenly realizing her necklace was gone, too.

"I don't know." Mari shook her head. "I thought it only worked if two things were the same, like matching thread, or ribbons and uniforms, like Miaka and Yui's ." Chichiri frowned as Mari mentioned the priestess and her lost friend, wondering at her unspoken knowledge of the two girls.

"Lady Mari mentioned you had a necklace of your own as well. Has it been returned to you?" Su let her eyes flicker about the room, coming to rest on a small pile of torn, dirty clothing on a nearby table. She hopped to her feet, fishing through the material until her fingers found the small string of beads.

"Here." She placed it next to Mari's, the two sitting side by side. The pattern of the glass seemed familiar to Chichiri, but he couldn't place it, a significance just beyond his reach.

"Would you both put them on, please?" Mari tilted her head to the side, wondering if it was a trick. "Please?" he repeated, bracing himself against the onslaught he was anticipating. The two girls each reached for their respective necklaces, fastening them cautiously around their throats.

The cacophony was immediate, a trinity of voices ringing in their collective minds.

_Mari?_

_Su, can you hear me?_

_How is this possible?_

_Mari, I'm scared!_

_It's ok, Su. Just stay calm._

_Owww, my damn head!_

_Who is that?_

_The fuck are you?_

_Tasuki?_

_Tasuki?!_

_Why's there a woman shrieking my name?_

_Just stay calm, you know?_

_Mari?_

_WHO THE HELL IS MARI?!_

Mari tore the necklace from her throat, gasping as the fourth voice joined their mental onslaught, shouting his displeasure in her mind. Her breath came in ragged gasps as she looked around. Chichiri's masked eyes met hers, his posture easing as the voices quieted in his mind as well. Only Su remained locked in the cacophony, hands over her ears as she cried out.

"Stop yelling. Please stop yelling!" Mari reached for her friend, unfastening the necklace and throwing it onto the table as Su shrieked angrily. Chichiri gathered it up, the familiar trinket finally hitting home as he placed its design, its twin one of the colorful necklaces that hung around the temperamental bandit's neck.

A temperamental bandit that burst into the room moments later. "What the fuck is going on!?" His eyes seized upon Su, narrowing as he recognized the girl who'd attacked him in the dungeon. "You!" Su emitted a startled squeak, scrambling backward from the doors as a red light burst in a vibrant corona about her, edges crackling and sparking with power.

"Tasuki, you need to calm down. You're scaring her, you know?" Chichiri rose to block the irate bandit's path, trying desperately to talk sense into the boy as Mari turned her attention to her friend.

"Su, what's going on? What is that... glow?" Mari reached out to touch the light, yanking her hand back with a hiss as it flared against her hand.

"'Chiri, that's the stupid girl who attacked me when I was trying to help 'er out in the damned dungeons!" Tasuki pointed accusingly at Su as she scrambled to her feet across the room, ire raised at the insult.

"Yeah? Well, I'll do it again, you fucking beast!"

"Shut yer goddamn mouth!" Tasuki struggled against Chichiri, reaching for the girls behind the monk. Su growled back, a bolt of energy crackling above the group.

"Enough!" Chichiri's voice snapped across those assembled, stilling the commotion. "Stop this before someone gets hurt! Tasuki, sit down and be quiet for once. Su, calm down or you might hurt Mari or I by accident, you know?" He gazed sternly at the two, watching their anger fade into sulks as they settled on opposite sides of the table from each other, still trading glares.

"Now," Chichiri began once they were all settled, "here's what I think is going on..."

* * *

The four ended their conversation in the wee hours of the morning, yawns punctuating their final words as Tasuki slumped off to his room, leaving Chichiri to walk Mari to hers.

"Thank you for your help. Tasuki isn't the easiest person to keep calm, you know?" Mari grinned up at the man beside her, the first true smile she'd worn since arriving in this land. Chichiri felt a small leap of delight within as her eyes crinkled at the corners, his own face subconsciously matching hers behind his mask.

"Well, I wouldn't exactly describe Su as quiet and patient, either." Mari chuckled. "I mean, she's the one arching her magic across the room." They arrived at her bedchamber, Chichiri nodding to the guard posted nearby, opening the door for the girl with a small bow.

"All the same, Lady Mari - I was happy to have you there." Still half-bent in a bow, Chichiri was surprised when a slender pair of arms wound around his neck, the girl pulling him into a careful embrace.

"Thank you for being so kind." The words were whispered close to his ear, a shiver coasting down his spine as she pulled away, retreating into her room and sliding the door shut with one last smile. The monk stood for a long moment, blinking at the door in surprise. A chuckle from a nearby soldier brought him back to reality, casting the man an embarrassed look before wandering back to his rooms. He blamed the odd reaction on the late hour. He was just tired. And it was the strange situation at hand that ensured his last thoughts before sleeping were of the Lady Mari.

After all, there was much to be done in the morning.

* * *

The meeting with Hotohori and his counselors went well. The emperor allowed the women to stay on in their palace rooms; allowed them to experiment with the abilities the necklace granted; allowed Su to try and hone the flares of magic she'd been showing in waves and bursts here and there. Chichiri left the audience with the emperor satisfied, excited about this new turn in the fight against Seiryuu.

The girls were less happy at the outcome. No one knew how to return them to their world; advisors to the emperor insisted they be confined to their rooms; guards stood by, constant companions for both of them, movements watched, secrets heard; their necklaces were to be kept by Chichiri, their property and hidden power at the monks whim. Albeit a kindly despot, Chichiri still played ruler of their destinies, a game neither girl was fond of.

Neither could see the arrangement lasting long.


	8. Crouching Bandit, Hidden Monk

Weeks passed, slow and exhausting, the two girls falling into a monotonous routine.

Wake. Eat. Walk. Sit. Train. Eat again. Sit. Study. Walk. Sit. Eat once more. Sleep. Repeat.

Day in and day out, it was the same. Both girls were awoken in the morning to be fed, bathed, and dressed before being pushed out their doors to walk the gardens. Always in the company of the the six assembled Suzaku warriors, each taking turns strolling with the girls. Questioning them under the guise of polite conversation. Then Su would be whisked away into their company so they could test the girl's strange powers, trying to learn its wild intricacies and how best to use them to their advantage. Mari would return to her rooms, taking her afternoon meal alone and waiting until Chichiri returned Su to her in the afternoons, dragging a reluctant Tasuki behind him for a tiring session of study, the four trying to puzzle the ways of their strange connection and leaving each day with little to show for it other than sour tempers and pounding headaches. Then they would be pushed out of their doors again, strolling the gardens idly and peppered with more questions as night fell and their rooms were turned over for the night. When it was time to take their evening meal, Su would be shown to the dining room to dine with the Priestess and her warriors. Mari would be escorted back to her rooms to eat alone. If their meal did not run late, they would let Su and Mari have an hour to themselves to talk quietly. If not, they would sleep.

And so it went as the weeks dragged on. Each day they pulled Su a little further away, kept her a little longer. And each day, Mari became a bit more withdrawn. Speaking less and less. Until again, as they had countless times before, they all found themselves around a table in Mari's room, the two foreign girls and their warrior shadows all holding their heads in frustrations as the headaches began creeping to the edges of their minds.

"Chichiri, I'm exhausted. Su and Tasuki are as well. Can we please stop for today?" Mari begged of the monk, falling onto her back and running her hands over her forehead and into her hair as she breathed a heavy sigh.

"Girl's got a point, 'Chiri. This ain't getting us anywhere fast." Tasuki growled, mimicking Mari's posture as his head fell into his crossed arms on the tabletop.

"We need to make this work." He urged. "Until I understand it, this magic it is a danger to us. And we need all four of us to test it fully, you know?" Across the table Su frowned at him, sitting back heavily as she let her gaze fall to her lap. Mari took in her friend's despondent posture, the tired curve of Tasuki's hunched shoulders. Even Chichiri was fighting fatigue and frustration as the afternoon dragged on. She could feel anger flaring in time with her rapidly growing headache, pulling a barking protest to her lips.

"No!" The room grew silent as the three blinked at her. Mari rose to her knees, unfastening the necklace and slamming it down on the table definitely. "No more! Not today!"

"This isn't helping your case any, Mari!" Chichiri surprised everyone in the room as he snapped at the girl before him. "How am I supposed to keep telling Hotohori's council that you're safe, that you're good, that you're one of us if you don't work to prove yourself?!"

"How am I supposed to prove my worth if I am too exhausted to endure your trials?" she slammed her palms on the table top, the sound echoing through the room. She held his gaze, eyes steady as they burned into him. She resisted the urge to slap that smiling mask clean off his face, turning instead to face the wall.

"Uh, 'Chiri?" Tasuki's voice whined at the monk, daring to get between him and the girl he was glaring at.

"Out. Take the Lady Su and go." Chichiri's voice was low, his gaze never leaving Mari's back as he spoke. "I need to have a word with Lady Mari."

"Come on." Tasuki grabbed Su's arm, dragging her to her feet and to the door before she could protest, his hand on her back propelling her through the doorway as she cast a last glance into her friend's room. "I've never seen him that worked up before. Man, that's scary!" He laced his fingers behind his head, stretching in the late afternoon sunlight. _Stupid girl didn't have to go and get him all riled up though. 'Tohori's gonna give me an earful now, just watch._

"I heard that." Su glared at him. "Don't call my friend stupid." _You bastard._

"Hey!" Tasuki snarled at her. "Who are you calling a bastard?"

"Well," she smiled sweetly at him, "I don't see anyone else here. And I certainly can't be sure of your parentage, Mister Tough Mountain Man." Even as his eyes narrowed at her, she could feel the amusement rippling through his mind, tickling her consciousness as a sonorous chuckle bloomed in her head.

"Heh, it's not so bad when it's just two of us." he smirked. "Don't know if I like ya in there, but it ain't terrible like this, at least." Su nodded her agreement, feeling a sense of ease as Tasuki's defenses lowered, the bandit speaking kindly to her for the first time since she had arrived weeks ago. A sly smile crossed his face, and Su was unsure whether she should be frightened until she felt his voice thread through her mind, his eyes screwed shut tightly as he tried to concentrate. _I'm starving. Wanna learn how to raid food from the kitchens?_ Su snorted, the question unexpected.

"Really? That's how you want to spend your afternoon of freedom?" Her eyebrow lifted as he grinned at her, lazy and wolfish, his shoulders rising in a casual shrug.

"What? I am a bandit, after all." He tossed back his head, a throaty laugh leaving his lips. She had never heard him really laugh before. It was nice._ Come on, it'll be fun. Suzaku knows we could use it._

_Ok!_ She nodded, falling into step as he took off swiftly in front of her.

* * *

Chichiri waited with the last of his patience for Su and Tasuki's voices to fade into the distance, eyes trained on Mari's squared shoulders as he repeated every mantra he could recall in his head, trying to calm his rising temper. They had been making so much progress until this week, the connection growing more stable as clarity and understanding began to come to them all. He was even able to pick out individual thoughts, to reach for the voices he most wished to listen to. Mari had been cooperative, helpful even, keeping both Su and Tasuki calm as the two fidgeted through their long afternoon sessions. He didn't understand why she was being so difficult now. The entire week she had been withdrawn, almost bird-like in her nervousness. Frequently lost in her thoughts, and unwilling to share them.

"We can't afford this wasted time." The words ground out from between his teeth, more harsh than he had meant them to sound. Her shoulders twitched as he spoke, her face turning toward his. She didn't look angry any more, she only looked tired. Worn down. He squinted at her, trying to remember if she always had the dark circles beneath her eyes.

"Chichiri, I'm trying. We all are. I'm just so tired." Her sigh cut the air, face falling as she spoke.

"But we're almost there, you know?" he pressed, trying to make her see sense. "Perhaps if we lessened the load? You and I could..."

"Chichiri, are you listening to a word I'm saying? No more. We've been trying for weeks!"

"But we could use this to stop the Seiryuu, to destroy them!" Her eyes went wide at his words, arms crossing protectively across her chest as her fingers clung to the fabric at her shoulders. She chastised herself mentally. Of course he wanted to destroy the Seiryuu. She had known that, but had let herself forget as the weeks had dragged by. As the Suzaku Seven had transformed themselves from words on a page to actual people - people who would lock her away if they knew the battle she was fighting within herself. People who might even kill her for it.

"I'm not a weapon," she whispered, as much for his benefit as for her own reassurance, " and I am not a tool. I'm person, just like you." She looked at him then, her blue eyes pleading for understanding. He sighed heavily, rising to his feet as Mari's gaze followed him.

"We'll try again tomorrow." Her face fell away from him as he crossed to the door, letting himself out in the warm afternoon and leaving her alone in her room, her head hanging heavily on weary shoulders. She listened for the sound of his footsteps, letting out a sigh as they died away, her body collapsing to the floor. She wrapped her hands around her head, fingers splayed wide against her temples, teeth clenched as she tried to still the riot in her mind. The call that was growing every day, plaguing her dreams with visions of serpents and pulling at her bones until she couldn't sleep at night.

_Kutou_. It repeated itself over and over. An icy burn in her soul. _To Kutou. To me._

* * *

It was well past nightfall when Chichiri returned to his rooms, temper finally in check after letting his feet blindly guide him around the palace grounds for the past several hours. In hindsight, he was ashamed of himself for letting his frustration get the best of him. The strength of his emotions only ever led him down dark pathways when he let them free. Mari had been right, she was not a weapon, nor was she a tool. They were all frightened and tired, he was too preoccupied with the strange magic at hand to realize that. He owed the three an apology in the morning. Lost in his routine, he crossed the expanse of his room, making his way to the small lock box he stored the necklaces in, hand stilling as he realized that he had forgotten to collect them after his argument that afternoon.

"Well done." He chided himself softly. There was something about the foreign girl that got under his skin, and he wasn't entirely sure he cared for it. But there was nothing to be done for it. He reluctantly left his room, feet leading him down the short distance that separated their rooms. "Mari?" He called quietly, knuckles rapping the ornate wood of her door frame. Silence answered him, a lone lantern flickering gently behind the screen, illuminating her window. "Mari, I'm coming in."

The door parted silently, letting him slip into the quiet room, finding the necklace still glimmering softly where she had slammed it down on the table earlier that afternoon. He collected the trinket, turning it over in his hand as a small whimper caught his ear, drawing his attention deeper into the room. Peering into the darkness, he could just make out Mari, the girl tossing restlessly on her canopied bed, her face turning toward the lamplight, glimmering as a sheen of sweat clung to her skin.

He quirked his head, rising to his feet as he crossed the room. Perhaps she was ill? That would certainly explain her short temper earlier in the day. She tossed her head again as he approached, hands balling into fists in the sheets as she murmured quietly, the words garbled as her tongue moved slowly, heavy with sleep. More an exhalation of breath than an actual word. A dream, then. He turned to leave, the beads of her necklace clicking softly in his hand. An idea ticked his brain, and he felt a twinge of guilt as he actually considered it. It wasn't right, but perhaps... she wouldn't know. And it wouldn't harm her if she was sleeping. Maybe this would help him ease the strain on all of them. He slipped the necklace around her throat as she slept, feeling the strange connection return to him as it fastened securely under her hair. His head swam suddenly, a pair of drunk voices singing loudly in the front of his mind.

_Really? You're both drunk?_ The thought slipped from him before he could collect it, startling the two, their confusion hazy and effervescent under the influence of the alcohol that swam in their heads.

_Oh, shit! Take it off! Take it off_! Tasuki babbled incoherently, his clumsy shock clinging to Chichiri's mind like a blanket. A feminine laugh bubbled up in his brain along with the sensation of being tickled.

_Stop that! Hey, I-_ He felt the connection go dead as the bandit succeeded in snatching the necklace off of Su's neck. He shook his head with a bit of a laugh. At least the two were finally getting along.

_Come to me, Mari._ The voice startled him out of his thoughts, dragging him into Mari's dream as he felt it wind around him, constricting his mind as it pulled at him, at his heart, burning in the back of his throat. _How much longer will you deny me?_

_Please, leave me! _Her voice begged, tired and weak._ Please?_

_I will not! You will find no peace until you answer my call._ He felt the cruel claws as they raked her mind raw, felt her cry out in his mind even as he heard a strangled cry leave her lips. _You will come to Kutou eventually, my child!_

"Kutou!" The word spilled from his lips before he could stop himself, Mari's eyes flying open to stare at him.

"Chichiri?" _Oh gods, how long has he been here? What did I say?_ "What are you doing in my room?" He looked at her, mouth hanging slack in the lantern light.

_All this time? All this time you've been deceiving us_? His accusation rang in her head, her fingers flying up to the necklace that was fastened at her throat.

"Spying? You were spying on me? While I slept?!" Her voice rose to a shrill cry as tears beaded in her eyes, threatening to fall down her cheek. He backed away from her, stumbling to his feet as she let her face fall into her hands, her despair falling over him like a great weight, black and heavy. _I trusted you. I trusted you!_

_Mari, I..._ She could feel his shame as it burned within him.

_I TRUSTED YOU! _His hands rose to his ears, staggering back against the wall as she roared her sorrow and fear into his mind, black creeping to the edge of his vision. He looked up as her footsteps echoed by him, Mari racing toward the door as she threw it open, flying into the darkness outside.

"Mari. Come back!" He chased her into the darkness, his cry alerting the nearby guards to attention. He could feel her panic rise as she heard the armored footsteps give chase. As she heard him call after her. "Mari!"

_Just let me go._ she begged of him.

_I can't let you go. You know I can't._ He felt her mind pause, weighing her next action.

_I know, Houjun._ The words were heavy, laden with so much sorrow he felt as if he would weep under the weight of them. The sound of his name, his true name, spoken like that turning his blood to ice. _Tell Su I'm sorry._ A musical clatter rang out in the darkness, the beads showering along the stone of the courtyard as Mari tore the necklace from her throat, letting the beads slip for her fingers as she ran from the palace into the streets of the sleeping city.


	9. This one time at Seiryuu's camp

Su giggled at the boy before her, his drunken clowning entertaining her through her own intoxicated haze. She'd served as his moll for the raid of the palace kitchens hours before, ducking around the ladles and flailing limbs of the angered chefs as she'd skidded along behind him. After they'd retired to a hidden corner of the gardens, he'd raised his eyebrows at her haul, chuckling as he'd hoisted the two large bottles of sake from her arms.

"Hey, this is pretty strong stuff for a girl." He'd smirked at her, his appreciation for her loot rippling through her mind, curling her lips into a cocky grin as she'd responded.

"Why don't we just see who it's too strong for, hey?"

They'd both gotten drunk faster than they expected, their drunken haze reflected from mind to mind, growing in their shared consciousness as it refracted into a dizzy glow of joy at their free afternoon, the tension of the past week rolling off the two teenagers in the late afternoon light. Devouring the pilfered dinner, they'd watched the sun set, light casting reds and oranges on the land around them, the golden glow falling from the palace as Tasuki taught her the lewd and ridiculous bandit songs from his mountain. She was laughing uproariously at a particularly ribald bit when Chichiri's presence loomed large in their heads, a dark undertow of panic rolling beneath his question, surprising the two from their lazy postures in the grass. The startled bandit at Su's side grabbed her suddenly, confusing the still giggling girl as he reached for her necklace, nimble pickpocket fingers tickling her soft skin as she's writhed and smacked at him.

_Stop it! Hey, I– _"I'm ticklish!" she concluded aloud as his hands came away with her necklace, tucking it neatly into his pocket as he responded.

"Hey, I dunno 'bout you, but I don't wanna angry monk comin' over to preach at us about drinkin'." He leered at her as he crooked his hands into claws before him. "But what was that about bein' ticklish?"

"Don't you dare." she hiccupped, pushing herself unsteadily to her feet, backing away from his wicked grin. "I swear to Suzaku, you dreadful boy, I'll make you sorry you...!" she trailed off into a yelp as he gave chase, the two weaving maniacally through the gardens, shrieking and cackling as they wended their way back to the palace. Tasuki rounded the gate to the gardens, crashing unexpectedly into Su's suddenly still form, his hands grabbing her arms as he struggled to keep his balance.

"Whadda ya..." But Su didn't hear the rest of the question, her eyes riveted on the figure that ran across the far end of the courtyard. She struggled to push away from the boy at her back, tried to rip her arms free from his suddenly fierce grip.

"Mari!" Su cried, reaching for her friend as she strained desperately against Tasuki's hold on her. "Mari, wait!" But the older girl didn't hear her friend, her hand rising to her throat to she ripped the beads from her neck. Su's scream lit up the night as she struggled against the bandit's hands.

"No! Mari!" She collapsed, sobbing as her friend disappeared beyond the gates, fading into the dark of the night. The bandit stared down, dismayed, at the crying girl, suddenly unsure what to do with the person he'd been laughing and carousing with mere moments before.

"You can let her go." Chichiri's voice came quiet from his side, the monk looking tired even behind his smiling mask. "She won't run now. Mari's gone." Tasuki released the girls arms, watching as she'd tripped forward, falling to her knees where Mari had run moments before, fingers collecting beads from between the cobblestones as she wept.

"What happened, 'Chiri?" Tasuki's voice was low as he watched a retinue of guards man the gates, swinging the great doors shut.

"Nuriko was right. Mari was summoned by Seiryuu. She's a weapon of the dragon god." He let out a deep sigh, seeking to ease the ache of regret in his chest as he uttered the last words. "Mari is the enemy, now."

* * *

She ran blindly for days, not knowing where she was going, not caring. She followed the call in her head, resting when she grew weary, stealing small bits of food from the villages she had passed on her way. She estimated that over a week had passed. Maybe more. Lost time spent trudging along the dirt roads, hair growing greasy and matted, body filthy from nights spent hiding in dark alleys, avoiding anyone official looking. Her stomach rumbled, taunting her with memories of the small, bitter plums she'd consumed the previous evening. Stolen green from a farmer's tree before the man had come running from the house shouting curses at her. Now, a day later, she wandered through a dark alley, sniffling back tears as she searched for an empty corner to call her bed.

Dirty, tired and starving, but at least she was free. The slithering voice in her head had faded as she passed through the gates of the town that morning, curling quietly to hibernate in the base of her skull, serpentine breath ghosting along her spine as she wandered the streets of what she could only assume was Kutou. Men on horseback had passed, looking for a girl with short hair and odd dress, driving her into the alleys to hide among the less fortunate of the city, barely avoiding the scrap heap fights and mad eyes of some of them.

At last finding a corner stacked with an abandoned pile of hay, she'd sunk deep into the scratchy bedstead, eyes falling shut against the pain in her limbs, in her stomach, as she finally fell into the deep dark of sleep.

* * *

_A flash of white light, a burst of blue; the sound of rushing water charging violently around her. In her dreams, Mari opened her eyes to find herself standing atop a small stone island that hovered just at the precipice of a towering waterfall, a misty view of the countryside drawing a gasp from her lungs._

"You've finally come to me." _A low voice wound its way over the crashing of the water, pulling her attention from the view as she spun, eyes taking in the long blue hair, the fierce gaze, the silk robes that flowed around him like water. She backed away from the intensity on his face, from the long fingered hands reaching for her, feeling her heels meet the crumbling edge of the stone._

_"No..." Her voice came out a bare murmur, her will to run any more sapping away, the day of rest from the call leaving her unprepared for its overwhelming intensity now. "Please. I just want to go home." The beast god merely chuckled, shaking his head softly as he continued his slow approach._

"You know that's not possible, my warrior girl."

_"I'm not yours! Su and I are no one's weapons!" Mari cried out in frustration, throwing up her hands in a vain attempt to stop the advancing creature, his aura pressing on her mind, pushing at what little defenses she could put up._

"You know what must be done. You know the story of this place, of this time – you and your friend will only be able to leave when this war is over." _He snarled a smile at her, pleasure shivering through him as he hissed,_ "When the Suzaku Seishi, their priestess, and your dear friend have all been scrubbed from this wretched world."

_"No." Mari shook her head, tears falling from her face. There was nowhere to run. The waterfall was at her back; Seiryuu at her front. The world she and her friend had fantasized about for so long had turned out to be a brutal place, a land of war and famine, poverty and vengeance. She couldn't allow herself to be twisted up in their battle any longer, even if it meant taking the easy way out. "I'll never help you." She hissed, rage-filled eyes meeting Seiryuu's as she stepped back, flinging her body from the tiny island. Her borrowed robes fluttered in the breeze around her, rising water droplets gently brushing her face as she fell, twisting through the air like an acrobat, peace enveloping her heart as she accepted this fate. But as she crashed through the bottomless surf, the water welcomed her body with hands too soft, a grip too real, and the voice too satisfied as it echoed through her mind:_

"But you already have."

* * *

Mari woke, a scream already on her lips as a cold sweat broke from her skin. Panting against the nightmare, she gazed about, wild-eyed, looking for what had woken her. Searching for the man in blue, for his intense eyes and soft hands. Could that have really been a dream? It felt so–

"You there! Girl!" The harsh voice ripped through her thoughts, startling her as she twisted toward it, eyes coming to rest on an official looking man outfitted armour, the mark of a dragon on his chest. "Stand up!" Mari blinked at him, limbs shaking as she tried to rise.

"Get off your ass, girl!" A second voice came from beside her, a rough hand yanking at her arm, the loud voice shouting to the first man. "You were right, it is her! Short hair, blue eyes. This is that girl Lord Nakago's looking for." At his words, fear lit up in her chest, blue light flaring from her skin as a thick wave of power pulsed through her. The guard was thrown clear off her arm, flung against the hard wall of the alleyway and knocked unconscious.

"Oh, shit." Mari cowered in the safety of the wild barrier, eyes wide as she held her hands protectively in front of her. She watched with horror at the remaining guard pounded on the shimmering light, pulling his hands away with a vicious hiss as it crackled against his assault, electrifying his skin.

"General!" His voice ripped through the air, scattering the remaining onlookers who hadn't already scurried away. "General, we found the girl!" Mari was too frightened to hear the footsteps approaching until it was too late. Until his shadow blocked the cloudy light leaking into the alleyway as he towered over her on horseback, gazing down at her with those cold, impassive eyes.

"Nakago." His name fell from her lips in a terrified whisper, Mari forgetting everything as she spun on her heel, barrier dissipating into air as she tried to run on weakened legs.

"How interesting." She heard his voice just moments before a searing pain struck between her shoulders, her weary body crumpling against the far wall. She hissed as her head cracked against the unyielding brick, her vision swimming in front of her eyes as the ground rose to meet her. She was dimly aware of the sound of booted feet approaching her, of a pair of arms circling her body, raising her roughly into the air. The sensation turned her stomach as her aching head lolled back on her neck, spinning the world upside down. "It seems Seiryuu has brought us a gift."

Mari wanted to scream. To claw her way free and keep running until she was safe. To run until she found her home and was safe in her bed again. She struggled to raise her head, eyes meeting Nakago's as he looked down at her, his mouth quirked into a strange, cruel smirk, his fair eyes glowing in the darkness of the alley. She managed to muster enough strength to plead her case one last time, voice weak.

"Please. Please... just let me go." she could hear her voice echoing in her ears, a pitiful whine, and she knew his answer before he even spoke. Her whole body shuddered in violent protest as the blue light glowed from the delicate marking on his forehead, disgusted at how right the power leaking from the man felt. She could feel her own, humming in time through her veins. Seiryuu's cursed gift to her. Her twisted reward for her betrayal, for leaving Su behind to save her own skin.

"I'm afraid that is simply not an option." he smiled at her, the light flaring until it burned her, the world slipping away from her once more.


	10. Who's Afraid of Houjun Ri?

The worn, dirty robes sat folded neatly on the table, the six assembled warriors staring at them silently. Returned to the palace that morning, they had been found hanging on the line with the freshly washed linens on a small farm near the Kutou border. Left in unspoken offering for the clothing that was stolen. The farmer had journeyed all this way to return them once he has spotted the royal crest upon the fine silks. Hotohori had sent him home with a small pouch of gold for his troubles, summoning the warriors to assemble immediately, as he had done anytime word of the wayward girl had passed his way in the weeks she'd been away.

"She'll be in Kutou by now." Hotohori sighed, sitting back in his chair as he massaged away the ache in his temples. "It took the man days to deliver these garments back to us. She is beyond our reach now."

"I still don't understand." Nuriko shook his head sadly. "She was such a kind girl. She seemed so innocent... Why would she wait all that time only to turn on us by running away? Why didn't she attack us outright? Chichiri, are you sure you heard her correctly?" All eyes fell to the monk, his usually smiling face stony as his brows knit together.

"I'm sure." he stated flatly, straightening his back defensively as he stared back at Nuriko. "I heard it clearly. She was being called to Kutou by Seiryuu himself." He cringed inwardly at the guilt he still felt for entering her mind that night. Over and over he told himself there was no need. That what he had done was right. The girl has deceived him, deceived them all, a serpent coiled, waiting to spring, hiding behind her smiling face. But why couldn't he shake the feeling that he had wronged her? That is was his fault she was wandering their lands, lost and alone...

"We have to cut our losses and move forward!" Tamahome cut through Chichiri's thoughts. "We don't have time to waste searching for her now. Miaka...summoning Suzaku... that should be our focus!"

"But what of the Lady Su?" Mitsukake cut in, countering Tamahome's outburst as he weighed their options. "If Miaka's friend is indeed priestess to the enemy, perhaps the Lady Mari is to play counter to Lady Su's mysterious gifts. We should be prepared for that."

"Yeah, good luck with that." Tasuki growled, crossing his arms. "Girl's been through the ringer the last few weeks, no thanks to us. I'm impressed she's still standing. She ain't gonna be too likely to cooperate until we stop treating her like a damn criminal." He snorted, a sarcastic huff of amusement, "Honestly, I don't blame her."

"Her friend turned out to be a spy for Kutou!" Tamahome spat at the bandit, devoid of any sympathy for the girl now that she had shown what he believed to be her true colors.

"Yeah, well she's not! And it's not like she knew anythin' about it! Hell, 'Chiri couldn't even tell 'til he went an' listened in while she was sleepin'. If you want Su to help ya, ya gotta stop punishin' her."

"I agree." Nuriko pat Tasuki's hand with his own, offering the bandit a small smile. "We would never dream of treating Miaka this way. Why do we think it's right to not extend the same level of acceptance to Su?"

"Her presence is a mystery, Nuriko. There was never any mention of a woman other than the priestess." Hotohori sighed heavily, unsure of what to do. "There is no precedence for this, and this course of action is getting us nowhere!" he muttered hotly, fighting to maintain control of his regal bearing.

"That's what I've been trying to tell ya..." Tasuki grumbled under his breath.

"Well, what do you suggest, then?" Hotohori humored him with the last shreds of his patience, casting a cool glance to his hot-headed comrade. Tasuki blinked, unprepared to actually answer. He hadn't thought anyone had been listening. The question gave him pause as he considered what he would want in Su's place.

"Girl needs a break. Send her on a trip or somethin'. Let 'er clear her head, get away from all the training and sideways glances."

"You want us to send her on holiday?" the emperor snorted at the idea. "Tasuki, we're on the brink of a war, in case you have forgotten."

"Highness, it isn't a terrible idea." Nuriko mused. "The time away might give her a good break. We all need a small rest. And perhaps if she is allowed to see the kingdom, it might inspire her to aid us in protecting it."

"Unless ya want to keep 'er locked up like a monster s'more." Tasuki smirked. "I mean, that seems to be workin' so very well."

* * *

_All done_? Su's quiet voice threaded into his mind as he returned the necklace to its resting place around his shoulders.

_Yeah._

_Have they found her, yet?_ He paused, trying to wall back the flood of emotion from the day's meeting and failing. She saw Mari's discarded robes in his mind's eye, a torn, dirty pile in front of the six warriors. She felt his pity as it wafted toward her, letting her know that they had reached another dead end._ Ah..._

_Hey, look, it doesn't mean she's gone for good._ he tried to reassure her. He hadn't lied earlier – it was a marvel that Su was still standing instead of sulking in her room day in and day out. It was what he had expected of her, and he found that he had been glad to be proven wrong. The past few weeks had been trying on the girl, spiraling her right back to where she had started when she arrived, save for a return trip to the dungeons. The Suzaku's trust in Su was shattered in all but Tasuki, who knew the truth of the girl's mind whether he had wanted to or not.

She had found a small comfort in the constant presence of the bandit at the back of her thoughts, quieter now that Mari and Chichiri had been lost from the link, the connection only remaining between the younger pair. She had expected him to turn on her as well, to see his eyes grow cold and suspicious as he looked at her, waiting for her to betray them. But instead he had continued on as if nothing had happened. He was still there every day, pulling her out of her chambers to test the limits of their strange connection. Devising little games to ease the strain on their mind. Kitchen raids, drinking matches, games of hide and seek on the palace grounds – anything to get her to forget about Mari's perilous run for a few precious hours. To keep her from disappearing into her own head.

_Thanks, Tas._ A wave of gratitude washed through him, the girl smiling weakly wherever she was. He shrugged her off, trying to play it cool. He hadn't done anything for her he wouldn't have done for one of his friends. And if he was being truthful with himself, Su had been keeping him from going crazy as much as he was doing the same for her. The girl never laughed at him. Never mocked his upbringing or rough ways. Never scolded him for eating too loud or drinking too much or any of the other lists of faults the other warriors seemed to find in him and his 'country upbringing'. She actually seemed to be interested in him. In stories of his mountain home and his life with the bandits. It was a nice change of pace, and one he was grateful for.

_So... how does a small trip sound to ya? I know this mountain, it's pretty nice this time of year..._

* * *

Chichiri closed the doors to his chambers quietly, shutting out the day's conversations. Hiding himself away from the eyes that lingered on him as he tried to assure the warriors that he had acted correctly. Away from the doubt that lay in his heart as he played that night over in his mind once more, just as he had each night for the past several weeks. Analyzing it, turning it every which way. Trying to convince himself that he had been right. That he had saved them all from a terrible fate. That he had driven a demon from their midst before she could strike, destroying everything he had come to care about since he had joined the small band of warriors who were all that stood between their beloved Konan and the looming threat of Kutou's beastly armies.

But alone in the dark of his room, he still saw her as she had been before she ran. The girl with the kind smile who had patiently sat with him for hours on end each afternoon, even when he could feel the pounding in her head through their shared connection. Whose face had lit up when he had walked with her in the mornings, marveling at the magnificent gardens within the palace walls. Who had endured long hours of solitude without complaint as they stole her friend from her by inches. Who had thanked him for his kindness with a gentle embrace each day, even though there was truly nothing to thank him for other than frustration and a dull ache in her head that never seemed to leave her. Her quiet determination and focus was both why he had trusted her, and what tore his trust from her now. But still, she had named him friend, in words and in thought, and he had imagined that he had found a companion of sorts in the foreign girl as well.

Perhaps that's why his heart ached this way? He shook the thought away.

Her voice still echoed in his head, haunting him. Desperate as she pleaded with the beast god to leave her. As she screamed her betrayal in his mind. As she spoke his true name in that terrible moment before she tore the necklace from her throat, laced with so much sorrow and regret.

Perhaps he had been hasty? He couldn't help wonder if he had acted too quickly, letting his shock get the better of him. She had been so terrified, then. He could still see her eyes, wide and frightened as her despair washed over him. In his mind, her face slowly twisted into other memories – a visage from his past, reaching for his hand as the waters rushed up around him. Crying his name.

_Houjun, please! Help me!_

He let his head fall to his hands, pulling the mask away in the dark of his room, tossing it to the side as anger roiled in his stomach, his fingertips playing over the cruel scar that closed his eye forever to the world. A twisted badge he would always wear to mark his betrayal. Taken in payment for his inability to see what was happening in the world around him, and for his unwillingness to understand the hearts of others. And now he feared he was repeating his mistakes, so focused on anchoring this patched together band of warriors that he was blind to everything but the cause. Letting the past repeat itself as he focused on nothing less selfish than his own needs and desires.

His head fell back, resting against the cool of the wall as he closed his eye to the world, clearing his mind with a deep breath. He has made his bed for good or for ill. Now he was destined to lie in it.


	11. A Good Seishi is Hard to Find

Mari gazed at the reflection in the mirror, watching as the pale doppelganger stared listlessly back. Her drawn face betrayed little as a handmaiden fussed over her, preparing the girl for the long day ahead. Allowing her eyes to fall closed, Mari forced her mind back over the events of the preceding weeks, running over the details, the faces, bringing them into sharp relief. Su's mischievous smile. Tasuki's twangy accent. The barely visible edges of Chichiri's mask. The sound of beads falling to stone.

"Lady Mari, you're growing thinner by the day." the woman murmured, quiet voice cutting through her thoughts. "You must eat."

"I do eat."

"Not enough. You're growing weaker..."

"That's not your concern." Mari's voice warmed in her frustration, eyes glaring resentfully through the glass at one of the few companions she'd been allowed over the weeks since her arrival in Kutou. The same woman, day in, day out, always there. Waking her, dressing her, straightening her bed in the mornings. Taking the robes from her shoulders and turning back the sheets as Mari collapsed, exhausted, every night. The maid knew well to not press the subject at this point.

"Yes, my lady."

"I believe this is all the preparation I need." She cast the woman a final reproachful glance before striding to the door, opening it to the young man waiting outside her room.

"Good morning, Lady Mari." Amiboshi offered an arm, head bowing respectfully. "If you'll follow me?" Mari rested her fingers on the cloth of his sleeve, allowing the boy to spirit her away. A corner hid them from prying eyes soon enough, and they dropped the act, a small sigh of frustration falling from Mari's mouth as she regarded the boy before her.

"She's driving me crazy, Amiboshi! The woman's always there! Always talking, always fussing. I never get a moment alone; never have time to just think!" He rubbed a hand over her back, an apologetic smile crossing his lips. "I'm sorry, Mae. It's just Lord Nakago's way of protecting you." Mari eyed the boy, fiddling with her sleeve as she fought with the temptation to spill her mind on Lord Nakago, to shatter Amiboshi's naïve, misplaced trust in the man.

"I suppose you're right," she finally acquiesced, ignoring the feeling of guilt; the feeling she was doing more harm than good for the sweet boy. They continued in a companionable silence, Mari following the boy through and endless maze of hallways and ante-chambers, finally arriving at the grand wood doors of Seiryuu's temple.

"Good luck." Amiboshi whispered, squeezing her arm sympathetically. Mari cast him a small smile.

"Let's hope I don't need it." She pushed the doors open, entering the cool room, the smell of incense wafting over her in a sickly wave as her feet moved over the blue marble. The General of Kutou stood waiting, a small smirk on his face, ready for the days lesson.

It had been three weeks since Nakago had brought the weakened girl to the palace, and the doctors began nursing her back to health. The wild power that had shown itself in the scummy back alley held itself in check those first few days, a burning fever that chafed just under her skin. The general had waited patiently for her strength to return, a shadow in her sick room. Once the doctors had deemed her stable, she'd been put in an empty wing, the handmaiden, Amiboshi and Nakago the only ones she ever saw, day in and day out. From then on her days were filled with training her new powers - Nakago flinging blasts of energy at her, her shields and offensive strikes growing stronger over the weeks of being knocked around. She never felt very strong in the face of his great power, but he seemed close enough to pleased.

Amiboshi served as her escort, the sweet boy becoming the closest thing to a friend she had in the palace, eating with her and bringing her ice for the bruises and bumps. Once, finding her running from the training room in tears, he'd gently pulled her to a private parlor, playing his flute for her as the frustrated sobs wracked her. He listened when she talked, trying to understand her as best he could. Maybe he didn't understand, but he tried.

It was more than she could say for the rest of the people she'd met in this land.

Today Nakago invited her to attack him, that beautiful face smirking at her as he watched her brow furrowed and her hands raise before her. The light arced across the room, and the general deflecting it easily back to her, Mari's own shield absorbing her power back into itself.

"Weak. Again." His calm demeanor prickled at her. The next strike shone brighter, hitting Nakago's shields with a resounding crash before flying back at her, stumbling her back with her own power. "Again." They continued this way for an hour, maybe more, Mari's strikes sometimes absorbing back into her own barriers, othertimes stumbling her backward, but never piercing the barrier of the man before her. After a particularly fierce strike threw her back, knocking her head against a wall, she had stayed down, head in her hands as she fought to keep her control. "Stand up. You're not done yet." His voice cracked over her, "There is no room for weakness in battle."

"I'm not in battle!" She snapped hotly. "I'll never fight for you!" He was across the room in three swift strides, plucking her from the ground by the neck of her fine, silk robes and pulling her to her feet.

"You _will_ fight for me, Lady Mari. I would prefer it be of your own volition, but I have ways of molding you to my will if necessary." A cruel smile split his face his voice a hiss in the quiet of the temple. "I pray for you that it's not necessary." He dropped her back against the wall, returning to his place beside Seiryuu's statue, hands rising before him once more. "Again."

* * *

Exhausted, she sagged through the doors at the end of the day, accepting Amiboshi's steady arm as he led her from the temple and leaning heavily against him as they moved toward the small room they took their meals in. "I can't do this anymore." Her voice was low, eyes on her half-eaten plate of food. She felt her stomach roiling at the memory of what Nakago had said. "I can't be the pet project of a madman." Amiboshi eyed her carefully, confused by the murmurings of the girl before him.

"What are you talking about, Mae?" Mari shook herself, favoring the boy with a tired smile.

"I'm sorry, 'Boshi. It was a long day."He returned her smile, happy to get away from the uncomfortable topic.

"Would you like me to play my flute for you again? It seemed to help last time." She smiled, moving to lay on the ground, head pillowed on her arms.

"That would be nice." Neither thought twice about the maid clearing their plates, the boy too occupied in his playing, the girl too lost in her thoughts of war.

* * *

It was later than normal the next morning when a soft knock at Mari's door pulled her handmaid away.

"Sorry, Amiboshi, I oversle-" she stopped mid-sentence, the opening door revealing a garishly painted man, better costumed for the opera than the palace. She knew him, a cold shiver running down her spine even as his name left her lips. "Tomo?"

"Yes. The Lord Nakago sent me to fetch you, Lady Mari." His voice came out a whining sneer, creeping up her spine. "His lordship will be most displeased with our punctuality, I fear." Mari eyed the man suspiciously.

"Where is Amiboshi?"He flipped his long hair, dismissing the subject.

"He's been called away. Now, shall we?" He strode down the hall without another word, Mari trailing cautiously in his wake. As they wove through the palace, Mari tried hard to pull the timeline to the front of her hazy, tired mind. Could it be true? Could everything be unfolding true to the story that she and Su had traced over, line by line, in their own time?

"So, Nakago finally sent him off to those fools in Konan, eh?" she smirked the words as she sidled up beside the painted man. She lied through her teeth, trying to coax what small scraps of information she could out of him. "I only wish I was there to watch it unfold." Tomo regarded her coldly, a small smile twisting at his lips as she wound her hands around his arm.

"Don't we all? I told him to send the boy months ago and get this out of the way, but he insisted on waiting..." Tomo trailed off, shaking his head and continuing along, muttering quietly to himself. They turned a corner, coming into an empty receiving room just outside of the temple. Mari's hands flew out before her, blue light arching from them in a magnificent wave. Perhaps not enough to fell Nakago, but the power slammed into Tomo with all her repressed rage and frustration, sending the warrior's body across the room and slamming face first into a wall, his pretty makeup smearing against the pale stucco.

The impact shuddered through the building, guards sounding a warning in the hallway, their armor clinking as they hustled toward the room. They searched the corners, the closets, the hallways surrounding. They traced the steps, returned to her rooms, moving out to the palace proper, the courtyards, the town. But it was to no avail. They had underestimated the girl.

She was already gone.

* * *

Mari had learned her lesson the first time. She slipped from the palace, creeping to the stables and seizing a horse when the boy's back had been turned. She rode the beast hard, covering the expanse of countryside toward Konan and using the beast's energy up in her frantic flight through the land. She slept in barns and orchards, slept in the saddle, smarter this time, faster and tougher. She traded animals at well-appointed farms under the cover of dark, snatching vegetables from people who wouldn't miss them and stopping only when she had to.

A new day was dawning when she reached the city center, slipping from a hay wagon she had snuck onto at the outskirts of the city. Tugging a stolen cloak close around her, Mari hurried along toward the palace, eyes sharp for a familiar blonde head, an out of place blue jacket, the ubiquitous flute. She didn't know how, but she found him shortly after she had entered the city. The boy was only just strolling through the streets of Konan, eyes taking in the street vendors, the palace walls, the guards.

"Amiboshi!" Mari's voice cut through the peace of the dawn, the boy wincing at the eyes that turned toward them, taking sudden interest at her voice. He hurried toward the girl, grabbing her arms and dragging her into the mouth of a shadowy alley.

"What are you doing here, Mari?" The boys face pinched as he hissed at her, eyes darting to the head of the alley. "How did you get out of Kutou? Does Nakago–"

"Of course Nakago doesn't know I'm here!" she snapped. "I ran away to find you. Listen to me, 'Boshi, you can't do this. I can't tell you why, but... I just can't let you go through with this. You have to go back to Kutou. Please?"

"What are you talking about, Mae?" He shook his head at her. "How do you–" She didn't let him finish, grabbing his face in both hands, forcing him to look in her eyes, to pay attention to her words as she pleaded with him.

"Please, 'Boshi! You have to trust me. Go back to Kutou. Stay away from Konan. Don't–" A cry at the head of the alley cut her entreaty off, shattering the peace of the morning with clanking metal and stomping feet.

"There she is!"

"Run!" She shoved Amiboshi down the alley, watching as the boy hesitated, still confused at her words. "Go home! Never come back to Konan! Stay safe!" She watched Amiboshi flee down the alley, hands already grabbing her arms as the boy turned the corner. The soldiers were rough, forcing her to the ground as they ensured she bore no weapon, binding her hands with a rough rope. It took everything within her to fight down the magic that threatened to break free, boiling just under her skin as they pulled her roughly to her feet.

Once again, a prisoner. Once again, captured.

Once again being led to the Konan palace.


	12. Broke Bandit Mountain

"Read 'em an' weep, Genrou ol' buddy!" the navy-haired bandit slammed his hand down on the considerable pile of loot, grin flashing as he watched the two eye his hand with loud groans.

"You cheated!" Tasuki whined, tossing his cards face down in front of him.

"Of course I did!" Kouji smirked at him, reaching for the pile and yanking back his hand as Su smacked it, leaning forward on the table as she fanned herself theatrically with her hand of cards.

"Not so fast, boys." She lowered her cards one by one until a winning hand shone up at the two bandits, their jaws hanging slack. "_You_ read them and weep. And then pay up!" She giggled, pulling a cup to her lips and drinking deeply in victory.

"Geez, where'd you find this one, Boss?" Kouji picked up one of Su's cards, looking at it before tossing it with a lazy smile back into the small treasure pile that had accumulated as they drank more and their bets had become more bold. Su fished a golden bracelet out of the loot, pulling it onto her wrist and admiring it. "She cheats better than the both of us!"

"I didn't cheat!" Su pulled herself out of her drunken preening as she protested the accusation, hands crossed defiantly over her chest. "It's not my fault you're both terrible at cards once you get drunk." With a shrug, she scooped the pile toward her corner of the small table, a noise very close to a cackle escaping her lips.

"Geez woman, you should have been born a bandit!" Tasuki protested, falling to his back on the floor, letting his eyes trail up to the once familiar ceiling. He had missed his mountain home more than he had let on. The small excursion had seemed to do both he and Su a world of good. The return had lightened his spirits some, and the general lack of decorum had allowed Su to finally relax.

_So what part of the cut do you want?_ her voice wound into his head, laughter tinting the tones a rosy hue.

_The dagger, at the least. An' those blue earrings. Heh. I wasn't kidding, ya know. Kouji should really hire you on._ he snorted back at her, eyes tilting to look up at her smiling face. _You're not half bad at this._

_Well, I had a good teacher._ she offered him a shy smile, turning her gaze away and hiding her face in the curtain of her hair to keep Kouji from suspecting that they had been in cahoots the entire time they had swindled him out of his best loot.

"Well, that's it for me." Su scooped her winnings into the folds of her skirt, creating a makeshift bag out of the excess material as she rose of her feet, stretching out the kinks in her knees from sitting so long. "See you boys in the morning. Stay out of trouble, we have a long day ahead." She warned playfully, disappearing from the room as she sought out her bed at the late hour. Kouji watched her go, eyes curious as they flicked back to Tasuki, a slow smile creeping across his face.

"So the Boss and the girl, eh Kouji? Seems that way to me, Kouji." Tasuki snorted, rising from the floor to give Kouji a half-hearted shove.

"S'not like that, Kouji."

"Hey, whatever you say, Boss." the smirk still sat plastered to his face as he leaned back from the table, settling against the soft cushions at his back. Every bit the picture of the lazy bandit king. "Think Gen's gonna tell us how he's really feelin'? I dunno, Kouji, why don't you ask him? That wouldn't be polite, Kouji... So, Gen, you ready to go back tomorrow?" Tasuki sighed, long and heavy. He had almost let himself forget the brief foray had drawn to its inevitable end, the palace and the warrior awaiting his return.

"Dunno, 'Ji. It's been nice gettin' away, ya know? Not having to be paradin' around all the time, pretendin' to be someone. It's so much easier here. I know who I am here. There... well, it ain't so clear."

"Can't you just stay?" Kouji pressed, the ever present smile finally leaving his face. "We can just send Su back. You can stay here, take over the gang again. I don't mind steppin' aside if it's you that's comin' back."

"Nah. Can't. It's an all or nothin' type deal. 'Sides, someone has to keep that girl in line." he let a wolfish smirk cross his lips.

"Not like 'that', huh? You sure you're not going soft on me, Gen?" Kouji spared his longtime friend a sideways glance, laughing as Tasuki glared at him. "Alright, alright, just foolin'. 'Sides, I had a broad who cheated at cards that good, I'd be keepin' an eye on her, too." That comment earned him an outright smile as Tasuki chuckled.

"What can I say? Girl's a natural." Tasuki hopped to his feet, stretching with a loud yawn. "See ya in the morning, Kouji."

"Yeah. Night, Gen." he watched as his friend left the room, chewing his lip thoughtfully as a crooked grin lit his eyes. Something was definitely up between the two. He was only sad that he was going to miss watching it unfold stuck up on his mountain.

* * *

Mari sat in her cell, patiently biding her time. She knew they would come eventually. There was no way they wouldn't. She only had to wait, marking the passing minutes in her head and trying her best not to jump each time the sound of footsteps reached her ears, stirring a twinge of fear in her heart as the time ticked by.

"On your feet, girl!" She jumped in her dark corner, unaware that she had started to doze off as the voice startled her back to waking. She squinted past the too bright lantern at the bars, unable to make out the faces behind it. She complied quietly, standing to face her visitors, trying her best to hold her head high. To not look frightened.

"Mari?" She recognized the voice long before he lowered the lantern, the honorific of 'lady' abandoned in the face of her betrayal. Chichiri's masked face came into view as her eyes adjusted, smiling as always, despite the seriousness of his voice. "You've returned." It was a statement, not a question, hanging heavily in the air between them. Her eyes grew cold as she remembered the last time she had laid eyes on him, his false face hovering over her as he sat crouched in her mind, unbidden and unwelcome.

"Yes."

"Why?" The question hung in the air between them, a thousand endings hanging on the one word in his mind. Why did she run? Why did she come back? Why did she betray them for the Seiryuu? Why had she haunted his thoughts since she had fled? She shook her head at him, her mouth opening and closing silently as she struggled to find the right words to make him understand. Eventually, she gave up, hanging her head.

"Does it matter? I'm here, and I'm locked away where I can't hurt anyone anymore. Isn't that enough?"

"You left us no choice." He protested quietly. "If you had just told us. If you have let me know-"

"That Seriyuu was whispering in my ear? That he wouldn't let me rest until I went to him? Let him turn me into a weapon?" She laughed outright at him, her lips twisting into a mirthless smile. "Would you had believed me to be good if I had told you? If I told you I was trying to fight it?" Her words stole the air from his lungs. He couldn't look at her then, his gaze falling away.

"One cannot ignore the summoning of a god." She was right, and he knew it. The words would have met the same reaction whether they had fallen from her lips willingly instead of stolen from her sleeping mind. Either way, she would have found herself exactly where she was now. If not at his hands, then by another one of the Suzaku.

"No... but one can try. And I did try, Chichiri. I did. I was trying so hard." her voice wavered slightly as she sat on the small, dirty cot in the corner of her cell, turning her face away from him.

"For what its worth, I believe you were." She didn't turn to look at him, but he watched as the tension drained from her shoulders, the girl deflating as she rested her head against the cold stone.

"Will that belief earn me my freedom, eventually?" The question hung between them for a moment as he looked for the answer. "Will it earn me your forgiveness?"

"I don't know." She remained still, her back presented to him. With a sigh, he collected his lantern, leaving her alone in the darkness once more. As he walked away, he almost mistook her voice for a distant echo.

"Chichiri?" He held the lantern up, the light falling on her face as she held onto the bars. He returned to her, watching with a strange sadness as she tried not to cringe away from him. "Su. Is she ok?" He knew he shouldn't speak of Su to her. Not when her motives were still so unknown to him. But the guilt that gnawed at him wouldn't let him remain silent.

"She is." He assured her, reaching for her hand without thinking. A soft blue glow lashed out from her fingertips without warning as she stepped back, the light cracking against his skin as it enveloped her in a protective ball of light. Her hands flew to her lips, eyes wide as the glow dissolved around her.

"Oh, no! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" The panicked words tumbled from her lips, her hand reaching for him through the bars as he backed away. "I didn't mean to. I'm just... I got scared. So many people have been rough with me and I... oh gods, I'm sorry." She let her hand drop, fingers closing around the empty air as she stepped back, falling to her knees. She hid her tears in her hands, shoulders shaking quietly as she tried to smother her choked sobbing.

All the doubt he had harbored these weeks found its way to the forefront, breaking over him as he watched her sit broken on the floor, barely a shadow of the girl he had met before. Enemy or no, this was his doing and the thought of that made his heart feel weighted with lead, pulling his knees to the floor, the lantern resting forgotten at his side. He had done this to her, and it tore at him. Another life he had stolen from its owner; another person he cared about hurt by his selfishness. His hand rose to his face, tearing the mask away as he looked at her, truly looked at her, for the first time.

"I'm sorry. I never meant for this to happen. Not like this." she looked up at him and he braced himself, expecting her shock, her fear, as she looked at him for the first time. The real him, Houjun Ri. Scarred and imperfect and drowning under the weight of his mistakes. It shocked him as her hand crept through the bars, fingers reaching tentatively forward, blue eyes meeting brown as she silently asked his permission. He closed his eye against her gaze, heat rising to his face as her fingers traced a path over the scars few had seen, and no one had ever touched. A small noise escaped his throat as her fingertips found the raised skin, somewhere between a sob and a sigh.

The anguish on his face, the color blooming in his cheeks – it tugged at her, brought the legend surrounding the man to her mind. The past she had learned from the pages of an ancient book. Everything had changed in the story she and Su had once known by heart once they had come crashing through its pages. It was too easy to forget that the tale they had swooned over in their time was real for the people they had met here. People with a depth words on a page could never dream of capturing. Through the fear, the pain, the frustration that this man before her had caused, she could still see his intent. Despite everything, she found she could forgive him, her head nodding as she traced the evidence of his pain.

"I know, Houjun." the calm sympathy of her voice summoned his gaze once more. "You've acted out of concern for the people you love. You don't know me. You don't know Su. You can't trust us. You did what most people would do in your situation. I... I think I can understand." He caught her fingers as they gently pulled from his face, wrapping the delicate hand in both of his.

"Let me." he begged her softly, a desperate need to save this girl driving him, even though he couldn't explain why. It coursed through him as he held her hand in his own, feeling her long fingers curl around his. "Let me get to know you. Let me learn how to trust you." His eye burned into hers. "We can work together to wrest your mind from Seiryuu; we can work together to fight against Kutou."

"You make it sound like such a simple thing."

"It won't be easy, "he agreed. "but let me try to help? I can't leave you trapped down here with no hand in your own fate. I can't be the one who trapped you down here. Please?" A small, sad smile twisted her lips, her thumb running over his knuckles.

"There's nothing we can do but try."

* * *

"Don't look."

"I'm not lookin', lady, now just calm down."

_...You want to look._

_Quit tryin' to spy in my head, you brat! Ain't no way – just 'cause you're a girl, don't be thinkin'... Are you done yet, anyway?!_

_Ugh, all these damn layers. Almost._

_Heh. Serves you right for being a terror._

"Shut up and tie my sash, bandit." Su popped out from behind her borrowed horse, holding the dress closed in the front as she waded through the tall grass to where boy leaned against his horse. Presenting her back to him, she grinned over her shoulder as he straightened with a beleaguered sigh. "Hey buddy, it's your fault for knowing how to do it better than me."

"'S'what happens when you got five older sisters." he muttered, concentrating on pulling the material tight around her waist, tucking and tying with quick, practiced hands. _Girl draggin' me off my mountain at dawn, makin' me stop in a damn field to help her change... What was wrong with what you were wearin', anyway?_

_They sent me out looking like a lady, I'll be damned if I ride in looking like a bandit._

"What's wrong with lookin' like a bandit?!" he squawked.

"Nothing! Goddamn. I just don't want to give them more reason to distrust me." She shrugged a shoulder, turning as he finished tying. "How do I look?" He took in the grinning girl before him, the bright gown glowing against her tanned skin, eyes dancing mischievously as she swept a hand through her wild mop of brown hair. _A complete wreck, right? C'mon, you can tell me._

_Uh... no... I, uh..._ The sound of galloping hooves cut through his half-blocked, stammering train of thought, both teens turning toward the approaching animal as the man on its back called out across the plain.

"Lord Tasuki! Lady Su!" He pulled the horse to a stop before them, breathless in his mission. "The emperor sent me to fetch you. The Seiryuu traitor was found trying to breach the palace walls late yesterday; his Highness bids you come at once."

_Mari!_ Su's growing control on the connection between them faltered and fell with the man's words, her emotions racing through the boy to her side in a confusing tumult._ Seiryuu traitor, why? What will they do? Where has she b– Kutou... She's back! The guards, what will they? Have to get to– Have to go, have to go NOW!_

_Su, wait–_ his thought came too late, the previously proper girl hiking up the silks wrapped around her, flinging herself into the saddle of her shaggy horse, heels jabbing the creature into a quick run. Tasuki cursed aloud, clambering to make chase after her, the guard hard at their backs.

_Gods be damned, can't you at least wait for me?!_


	13. Are You There Gods? It's Me, Mari

The animal's hooves clattered over the cobblestones of the market, beast and woman hurtling past the guards at the palace gate. She had abandoned the warrior and guard at the city entrance, the two men waylaid by the soldiers there, searching for papers of travel, letters from the emperor. She'd given no thought to her identification, pushing her horse past barricades and guards, mind focused solely on the reappearance of her friend. Dismounting from the mare, Su ran through the courtyard, feet racing to the palace dungeons, breathless as she flew past the warden, voice ringing out against the stone walls. "Mari?! Mari!"

"Su?"

"Mari!" Su ripped her arm from the man who tried to restrain her, charging down the hallway toward the voice. Toward the only person in this land she could call home. Fingers wrapping around the bars, she peered into the cell, hand reaching in with a delighted laugh as Mari's face came clear in the gloom.

As their fingers met, each girl was seized with the shock of their ki, power flaring into wild, angry light around them. Mari pushed the magic back down, striving to shelter her friend, but a moan parted Su's lips as the expanse of her magic flooded her synapses. Crossing the palace courtyard, Tasuki seized his head with a grunt of pain, stumbling in his purposeful stride toward the dungeons. The rambling, frenetic buzz that was Su vanished from his mind, a rage filled voice burning in its stead.

_Seiryuu's Child! Why have you invaded my land?_

A shout from the dungeons summoned the men from the palace proper, guards rushing around the boy as he struggled to shut the normally docile mental link, finally resorting to yanking the necklace over his head. Following the men into the prison, Tasuki pushed his way to the front, tessen at the ready as he broke their ranks, freezing like the men around them as he struggled to comprehend the sight before him. Su stood before a cell, the red light of her power crackling fiercely about her, long hair whipping in a preternatural wind. One hand extended before her, fingertips inches from the bars of a cell.

"Su?" Mari's voice came, faint and wavering from beyond the bars. The voice that responded echoed through the minds of all present, a powerful sound, beautiful and cruel in its fury.

_How dare you enter my lands, child of Seiryuu! Come to sow pain and disharmony among my ranks? Come to tear apart the warriors from inside? I shan't allow your ludicrous lies to sully my army! _As the voice fell silent, a fiery ball of ki left Su's extended hand, flying at Mari, the blue shield of power surrounding the older girl dissolving the fiery attack easily. An angry, bird-like cry echoed from the stone walls as Su's magic flared, bolts of power rushing through the bars, swift and angry as they rained down on the girl within.

Mari felt her own magic straining against the onslaught. Her eyes searched the girl, taking in the rigid posture, the whipping clothes and hair, eyes showing none but the whites. Su's unseeing rage was fueled by something bigger and more powerful than any feeling of abandonment or betrayal the girl might have harbored. This wasn't her friend any more – an ancient power had taken over. With this realization, Mari forced a wave of ki from her hands, the power washing into Su, knocking the girl backward into the bars opposite. Her head slammed hard against metal before her body fell prone to the ground.

"Su!" Mari's voice ripped from her, anguished as she heard her friend's head crack against the unyielding bars, body crumpling to the floor in a boneless heap. She reached for the girl, fingers grasping at the air between them. Tasuki rushed to Su's side, turning over the unconscious girl in his arms.

"Tasuki, is she ok? Please tell me I didn't ki...ki..." She couldn't bring herself to speak the words as the bandit lowered her friend gently to the ground. A low snarl escaped the boys as he wheeled on her, charging the cell to thrust his tessen in her face, metal already glowing. Wide blue eyes stared with shock into his rage filled face, her dark hair rising to swirl around her face as her magic rose, unbidden. She turned her head with a cry as she heard him speak the words to summon his fire forth, the heat raging around her in the tiny space. As the roar subsided, Mari cowered, untouched amidst the smoldering wreckage of what was once the meager furnishings of her cell, the bars glowing an eerie red between them.

"Why did you have to come back?" he roared at her. "She was finally startin' to feel better! Finally startin' to forget about you leavin' her behind to go cozy up to the Seiryuu."

"Cozying up to... is that what you think I ran away for?" She stammered at him, anger leaking into her eyes, erasing the fear as she got to her feet, stepping closer to the bars to stare down the bandit.

"Chichiri told us what he saw in your mind. We know Seiryuu was calling you to them. We know you're one of them now."

"I will never be one of them!" She roared back, stilling the chatter in the hall as her voice split the air, the rims of her irises glowing unnaturally blue as her magic stirred. "Never!"

"Just like you'd never hurt her?" He jerked his chin in Su's direction, the girl still laid out gently on the floor. "You're nothing but a coward!"

"You think I'm a coward?" her voice was low with warning. "You don't know a damn thing about me, Tasuki. What it cost me to come back here. What I've been through since I arrived in this miserable story you call a life. And you call me a coward? You just wait and see what your god has in store for you, then you can talk to me about being a coward. Once they are gone and you're the only one left standing with nothing but your failure for company!" Tasuki only stared at her, mouth snapping open and closed as he tried to make sense of the words her anger had ripped from her. She blinked back at him, her rage draining away as the glow left her eyes, gasping as she realized what she had said. "Tasuki, I didn't mean..."

"Shut up. Just shut up." He turned his back on her, gathering up Su's still form in his arms. He turned to look at Mari one more time, the girl standing silently in the middle of her destroyed cell. "If you care about her at all, just leave her alone."

* * *

He's lost track of the time that had passed after he had carried Su from the dungeons. Depositing her in Mitsukake's waiting arms without a word, he'd followed the healer into the palace, leaving the assembled warriors to stand, confused, in the courtyard. He held his breath as she was laid out on her bed, green light reflecting strangely on her skin as Mitsukake tried his best to heal away her hurts. His eyes strayed over her, frowning at the torn gown that he had helped dress her in earlier that day. Remembering her smile as she stood in the sun.

She hadn't ever been aware of it. How her cries in the night pulled them from their sleep as she had wept for Mari after she had ran away. It was breaking their hearts slowly, small cracks in the armor of the phoenix warriors. It hadn't even been a week since the night terrors had ceased, the girl finally finding a modicum of peace outside the palace walls. And now this is what she had lying in wait for her return.

"Tasuki?" Mitsukake's face swam before him, his hand shaking the boys shoulder gently.

"Hmmm?" he shook his thoughts away, pulled back to the present moment.

"She will sleep for a while. She sustained a large blow to the head; it will take her time to recover from that. But she'll be fine. Someone will need to stay with her - I'll call one of the servants to-"

"I'll do it." Tasuki's tone left no room for argument, Misukake considering the boy briefly before inclining his head.

"Please send word when she wakes." He was gone from the room a moment later, leaving Tasuki alone with the sleeping girl.

_Hey, can you hear me?_ he pushed gently, trying to brush against her mind to reassure himself that she was going to truly be alright. Su? A heavy silence was all he found, and he withdrew, letting his gaze fall to her still face. She looked so calm as she slept. A far cry from the vengeful avatar of their god. Just a girl._ What's so damn special about you, huh?_ he asked her, feeling safe in her silence. _When did you stop being a stupid girl?_ He took her hand, covering it in his as he held fast to her, the desire to keep her safe almost unsettling in its intensity.

He couldn't help but chew over Mari's words to him earlier. They rang in his ears still, holding a gravity he couldn't seem to place. He had never really questioned it before, the strange things the two would say when they had been together. Things that had slipped by. Their understanding of their half of the mental link. Little things they seemed to know about Miaka and her friend Yui. Little things they had seemed to know about them.

The way Mari always seemed to be looking through Chichiri's mask. The way Su had recognized his mountain before he had even spoken its name. Very little seemed to genuinely surprise these two strangers. It made him wonder what Mari had truly meant when she has spoken to him earlier. When she had warned him of Suzaku's plan. Perhaps it was a trick to make them doubt themselves. The true purpose of what the Seriyuu warrior had sent her back to do.

But then why did it bother him so deeply?

_Once they are gone and you're the only one left standing with nothing but your failure for company..._

The words echoed over and over in his mind, wearing him down as the afternoon stretched on.

* * *

She was already in chains by the time they arrived in the dungeons, left in the room churned to ashes by Tasuki's fire. A fair smudge against the scorched stone. She had been stripped to barely anything, the flimsy shift doing nothing to keep away the cold as she trembled on her knees, arms high over her head.

"What is the meaning of this?" Hotohori asked, his voice cold as he addressed Mari, careful to not approach too closely.

"I didn't mean any harm." Mari's voice was weak as her eyes remained downcast.

"After all the kindness we have shown you! The hospitality we have extended... still you see fit to betray us, not once, but twice?" She cringed under his accusation, head hanging down in front of her, her hair shadowing her face.

"Highness." Nuriko placed a gentling hand on the emperor's sleeve, trying to calm the man's fury. "Mari. Why did you come back?"

"I was trying to stop the Seiryuu." Mari's face lifted to the kindness of Nuriko's voice. "I know you won't believe me, but its the truth."

"But... still. You left us for Kutou. You ran." It was the truth, but any lack of judgement in Nuriko's voice didn't make it hurt any less. Mari stared at the ground, willing the tears streaking down her cheeks away, to no avail.

"It was my fault." Chichiri's voice broke the silence, attracting the attention of the small group. "I chased her from us. If I had offered her help, protection, maybe this wouldn't have happened."

"But 'Chiri!" Tamahome protested, "I thought you said-"

"I was wrong!" The young fighter's mouth snapped shut at the monk's outburst, eyes wide. "I take full responsibility. And now... I ask that you graciously allow me the opportunity to fix my mistake."

"We cannot let her leave the dungeons." Hotohori glared at Mari, watching as she turned away in shame, "Unchecked, she is a danger to us all."

"He's right, Chichiri." she whispered. "Please just leave me here. Until the war's over... I've caused enough damage."

"I don't believe that." He pulled the mask from his face, steady gaze unwavering as his scarred visage startled the beauty-obsessed emperor. "If you have ever trusted me, please, trust me now." The two men held each others gaze a long moment before Hotohori nodded slowly.

"Very well. But she is not to leave the dungeons. On this I will not waver." Chichiri only bowed his head, stepping aside as the warriors filed out of the dim hallway. The emperor paused in front of the monk, meeting his eyes to whisper soft words for his ears alone. "For all our sakes, I hope your faith in the girl is not misguided. She will not survive another betrayal if you are wrong."

"Understood, your highness." Waiting for the emperor to disappear, Chichiri turned to the warden at the heavy click of the great doors. "Open the cell."

"My lord, His Highness commanded-"

"Open the cell. Immediately." Chichiri's tone brooked no argument. Grumbling, the warden took the heavy ring off of his belt, fumbling through before pulling one out of the jangling mess and fitting it neatly in the lock. "Now let her down, and find a suitable cell for her. She will not remain here in this mess." The men knew better than to question him at this point, releasing the manacles around Mari's wrists one at a time until she fell free, body curling over her knees as she pulled her arms in protectively, long fingers curling around the bruises on her wrists. His hand found her back, rubbing small circles between her shoulders to ease the ache that had formed while she had hung from the wall. Her body shook under his hand as she tried valiantly not to cry.

"I should never have come back here. Su... I could have... could've... killed her." Her voice was rough with unshed tears as he took her gently by the shoulders, lifting her from her protective crouch, pulling his cloak around her shoulders.

"You don't have to hold it in, Mari. You don't have to pretend anymore." Despite his kind words, Chichiri watched with a heavy heart as the tears began to slip down her cheeks, eyes closing tightly to try and stem the flow. He pulled her head to his shoulder, his hand finding her hair as she gasped great wracking sobs, her tears soaking into his shirt, burning against his skin. "I don't know what the Seiryuu did to you. I don't know why you're here. But we'll find out. I'll fix this, I promise." Her hand curled into the soft fabric of his shirt, clinging to him as she cried out her fear, sobs dying away into small, choked whimpers over time as he soothed her, quietly rocking her like a young child in a night terror. Eventually, Mari stilled, her breathing deep and even as he realized she had cried herself to sleep in his arms.


	14. Do Seishi Dream of Warrior Sheep?

With a sigh, Tasuki woke to the odd sensation of tentative fingers trailing through his hair as he opened his eyes into darkness.

_You awake?_ Su's voice brushed against his mind softly, barely a whisper. He struggled to keep still, willing her continue to part the fiery strands. As her nails trailed pleasantly against his scalp, ghosting along his jaw, he yearned to push into her touch. _You know I can tell you're awake, right?_ the voice smiled in his head, her thumb brushing over his cheekbone. He squeezed the hand still wrapped in his, letting his eyes slide open once again as Su's curious fingers traced along his features.

_I know._ Lifting his head from the bed, he blinked away the sleep as he sought out her face through the shadows, drawing her hand close to brush the knuckles against his lips. A small smile was on her lips as she gazed at him from where she was nestled among the pillows.

"Thank you for staying with me." she whispered, fingers pushing the hair from his eyes. He nodded, face solemn.

"I was worried. You, uh... ya weren't yerself." Her brow furrowed as her teeth worried her lower lip.

"I don't remember what happened." Su admitted. "I was running toward Mari. In the dungeon. And then I... I was waking up here. With you." Su fidgeted as anxiety crept up her spine, scared to give voice to the questions pressing at her. _What happened to me, Tas? Is Mae okay?_ _Am... am I okay? _The boy moved from his seat to the edge of the bed.

"She's fine. You're fine. You... you were... possessed, I guess?"

"I was what?!" Su shot up from the pillows, eyes wide.

Tasuki winced, shaking his head as he tried to explain. "We all heard Suzaku's voice comin' from you. Angry at 'Seiryuu's Child'. Yer magic was... well, it looked like it had taken over. It was fightin' 'gainst Mari when she knocked ya out." He scowled, eyes sliding to dance over the dark of the room. _I told her it was better to leave you alone from now on._

_Leave me alone?_

_Yeah. To stop hurtin' you. She needs to stay down there. Where she belongs._

_What?! Why?_

_She hurt you!_

"Tasuki, she's my best friend!" Su cried aloud. "She was probably reacting to being locked up in a dungeon and seeing her friend's body taken over by... well, whatever it was."

"You didn't see what happened!" he blustered back. "She attacked you, plain and simple." Reaching up, he tucked her hair back, large hands softly cradling her face as he tried to make himself known. "I just don't want you goin' 'round her 'til we can figure out what's goin' on, Su."

The girl closed her eyes, leaning into the calloused hands as she sought to keep her anger in check."Tasuki, you can't tell me what to do. I'm not one of your bandits; you're not my leader, or my father, or my boyfriend, or anything!" Opening her eyes, Su was confounded by the boy's face, his rigid features, amber eyes growing stormy as she realized that she could detect pain in his mind, leaking around a wall he was struggling to put up between them.

"I... I thought we... I mean, I thought that..." He trailed off, eyes darting over her features as he searched for the words.

_Thought what, Tas?_

_No. No, no...  
_

_Tas', tell me._

"I can't." he shook his head, releasing her to run his shaking hand through his hair. "I can't, I'm sorry. I jus'... I can't do this no more." Standing from the bed, Tasuki strode quickly to the door, hesitating with his hand on the doorknob to look back at Su, where she sat, bewildered, in the middle of the vast bed.

_I'm sorry.  
_

_Tasuki, don– _Her voice broke off as he pulled the necklace that constituted their mental bond over his head, pushing it deep into his pocket as he left the room. He hurried down the hallway, unable to escape before hearing the soft tears in the voice that called his name behind him.

* * *

Chichiri woke to the strange sensation of something soft tickling his nose. Dimly aware of the pressure of a head on his arm, a body cradled against him; his cheek pressed to the warm flesh of a forehead. His eyes fluttered open, brow furrowing as he struggled to place where he was, gazing down at the woman in his arms.

Mari.

He blinked the sleep away slowly, exhaling deeply and watching as his breath stirring the hair where it framed her face. It had been years since he'd held another person so close. The intimacy was overwhelming; a fluttering feeling he could barely place swirling in his chest as she nuzzled closer, her warm body pressed along the length of his on the too small cot. Limbs a tangle as they draped over each other, her body half on top of his as they made the best of the space afforded them.

She'd fallen asleep in his arms just before the warden had come to escort her to the new cell. He had refused to wake her, instead carrying the girl to the new room, laying her in the bed and tucking her beneath his own cloak in lieu of the moth-eaten covers. As he'd moved to leave, tried to take his arms from around her, a tiny mewl left her throat, fingers clutching at his sleeve.

"Please. Stay a little longer." She didn't even open her eyes, the words seeming to come from her unconscious. No matter – he couldn't deny her, now. He'd sat on the bed beside her, fingers stroking her hair, a quiet song humming under his breath. He must have fallen asleep.

Mari's eyes opened slowly, sleepily focusing on his. The heat of them sent a shiver down Chichiri's spine, a hand gripping at his heart. He hadn't found himself in this situation in, oh, too long. Slowly, red stained her cheeks as she blinked away the last of her dreams and she realized exactly where she was.

"I-" she sat up suddenly, her hand falling to his chest as she pushed herself gently out of his arms. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize I had fallen asleep."

"Neither did I." he smiled apologetically, making to stand as they disentangled from each other awkwardly. "It wasn't my intention to stay."

"Thank you. For staying, I mean." Her eyes fell to her lap as she pulled the cloak tighter around her shoulders, fingers curling in the soft fabric.

"Of course." A small smile tugged at his lips as he watched her yawn the last of the night's sleep away. "I'll start looking through the archives today. There has to be something to explain all of this. I promise you, if the answer is there, I'll find it." he turned from her, calling for the warden as he conjured a mask to his hand.

"Chichiri, wait." Mari's hand was on his arm, unexpected as he turned to look at her. "Let me help? It's not like I'll have much else to do. Just a book and a lantern, that's all I need. Please. I need something to distract me from..." she trailed off, smiling weakly at him. As her fingers dropped from his sleeve, Chichiri fit his mask neatly back into place, the fox-like smile returning once more to hide him from her gaze.

"Mari, you don't have to do that."

"But I want to!" she pleaded with him, her hand finding the fabric of his sleeve and holding fast until his false smile widened. There was a quiet determination in her eyes, a focus that he couldn't recall before she had ran from them, and he found it difficult to ignore. "Please. Let me help."

"Very well. I'll see what I can do." Her face lit up at his words, breaking into a wide smile that stole his breath at the familiar swell of affection in his chest.

"You there, girl, back up against the wall." The warden's voice cut through the moment as he glared into the cell. Mari dropped her hold on Chichiri's sleeve, smile fading as she backed away. When her shoulders touched against the far wall, the warden opened the gate for Chichiri, waiting until the monk was through before slamming it shut with a resounding finality. The warden didn't bother to linger. What the monk wished to do with her afterwards was beyond his care or concern. Chichiri turned back to the Mari, his fingers wrapping around the bars.

"I'll return as soon as I can." he assured her.

"I'll be here." Mari's mouth twisted into a small smirk at the joke as she pulled his cloak from her shoulders, holding it out to him through the bars. "And here, thank you for this." He gently pushed her hand back, careful to avoid her bruised wrists. The ugly purple marks only steeled his resolve to help her.

"Please, hold on to it for now. You need it more than I do." He let his fingers linger on hers for a moment before remembering himself. "Until I return." He managed to pull himself away, to leave her there as he strode down the hallway with a purpose, the heavy blanket of guilt that had plagued him for the past several months finally beginning to lift from his shoulders.

* * *

"I said no, Lady Su, and that is final!"

"I'm sorry, Warden, but I'm pulling rank. I'm seeing Mari, and you can't stop me." The girl stared the man down, letting her ire take form in a slight red glow over her person. "Or would you care to test that?" The man scowled, leaning down to pencil her name in the ledger, muttering under his breath.

"Lord Tasuki isn't gonna like this..." Light seared across the room from the girl's hand, painting a charred streak across the dungeon wall, narrowly missing the warden's head as he dove from his chair.

"Screw what the bandit likes!" she snarled, seizing the warden's previously occupied chair to drag behind her as she stalked to her friend's cell.

She had not slept much, mind retracing the argument in the dark of her room, bewildered tears giving way to confused frustration ceding to the all-out wretchedness that led her stalking through the palace in a righteous fury this morning. _This mood will never do. _She took a deep breath, stilling her inner turmoil as she rounded the corner, working to pull her magic under control as she pulled level with the door to Mari's cell. Setting the chair against the wall opposite, she turned toward the bars, brow raising at the sight before her. Mari sat on the bed, feet tucked neatly under her, wrapped in a familiar blue cloak. She nuzzled her face into the soft cloth, eyes closed, as Su quietly approached the bars, lips curling as Mari breathed in and sighed.

"Gee, wonder who could have left that..." She giggled as Mari's face whipped toward her, a blush already rising in her friend's cheeks.

"It smells like fresh air!" Mari blurted defensively. "Something I'm not getting a lot of in here!" Su's eyes danced gleefully in the low light the dungeon offered.

"I'm sure that its owner has nothing to do with its scent..." Mari stuck her nose in the air, trying to ignore the heat still rising in her face.

"Absolutely nothing!" The girl at the iron bars laughed, eyes warm as her friend joined her.

"I'm so happy you're back, Mae."

"Me too." Mari smiled at the younger girl's bright face, watching as she sat in her chair, distant from the bars, but so much closer than they'd been in months. Stories and questions spilled from their lips as they rushed to catch up, quiet voices filling the dank hallway with light.

* * *

One last scroll left the shelves, making its way to the small pile of scrolls and tomes in the Chichiri's arms. One of the royal priests hovered at the man's elbow, lips pursed as he watched the young monk collect the documents.

"Lord Chichiri, may I once again request that you stay in the libraries with the priceless, irreplaceable scrolls?" Chichiri smiled calmly, inclining his head at the man.

"Alas, your Holiness, I'm afraid that's not possible. But I promise to return them unharmed." The man gave a final harrumph, stalking back into the depths of the library as the monk left, arms full with the research materials, the small smile staying on his lips as he wound his way through the palace toward the dungeons. The voices of the girls reached him before he rounded the corner, stopping him in his tracks. He shouldn't eavesdrop. It wasn't right - it wasn't trustworthy. But something kept him there, frozen, quiet in his hiding place just out of their sight.

"...did Kutou follow the legends as well?"

"Yes! It was exactly like the book."

"So strange. Outside of their interactions with me, everything is stacking up the way it's supposed to..." Su's voice trailed off into a thoughtful silence.

"Su," Mari's voice cut the silence, her tone low, "I came back to stop Amiboshi. Nakago had sent him to disrupt the summoning."

"Already?" Su gasped softly, calculating the time in her head. "Where is he now?"

"I don't know. He ran off when I was captured. But if he did listen to me, that means he won't be coming here. Which means there's still time to find Chiriko. Maybe they can just summon Suzaku and this will all end before..." One of the scrolls in Chichiri's overfull arms slipped from the pile as he leaned to listen in, clattering too loudly against the floor in the quiet hallway and cutting Mari off as both of the girls jumped.

"Who's there?" Su called out, her fingertips glowing a soft red light as she peered into the darkness.

"It's just me, you know?" He rounded the corner, extremely grateful for the mask that hid his embarrassment from the two women as they breathed relieved sighs, the startled looks vanishing from their faces. Su rushed to his side, relieving him of some of his burden. "Thank you, Lady Su."

"I don't think I am ever going to get used to being called 'lady'." She snorted, placing the scrolls carefully on the chair she had been sitting on a moment before. "What are these for, anyway?" She ran the delicate vellum through her fingers, unrolling one of them enough to read the first few lines.

"Research." Mari offered the answer. "There might be something in one of these that explains what we're going here."

"And this is the first time we thought to look in the library?" Su raised an eyebrow at Chichiri. "Really?" A soft chuckle bubbled up from Mari, the girl covering her mouth as Chichiri fidgeted uncomfortably. Su joined her, the two girls laughing at the absurdity of the situation.

"Yes, well normally the priests handle these affairs, you know?" he sighed, collecting several scrolls and handing them to Mari through the bars. She beamed at him, taking the precious documents with a gentle hand and a soft thank you.

Su couldn't help but grin at the scene before her. "Well, this all looks terribly exciting, but I think I'll leave you two to it!" Taking a step closer to the Mari's cell, she reached for the girl, fingers sliding between the bars to pull her friend into a hug. Chichiri caught her arm, stilling her as he realized what she was about to do.

"Given the past few days, I don't think that is wise." he smiled to soften the warning, but she still blanched as she remembered the previous evening's events.

"Right. Yeah." Su looked at Mari, offering her an apologetic smile. "You know, it would be really nice if this place would let up on the litany of brutality." Mari held up the scrolls in her hand, offering a weak smile.

"Working on it."

"Yeah, well... hurry." Chichiri couldn't help but notice the heavy glance the two girls exchanged, Mari nodding solemnly as Su left them, wandering away into the dark of the hallway. It took everything in him to swallow it down, to remind himself that he had vowed to trust her. But what he had just overheard was already testing the limits of that trust.

"Well then, shall we begin?"


	15. The World According to Nuriko

"Here." He noticed the hand first, circling him gently as she came up behind him, face close enough that he could feel her breath on his cheek. Chichiri looked up to find Mari hovering over his shoulder, a small cup extended out to him in her ink-stained fingers. "It's time for a break." He raised his hand to take it, his fingers sliding over hers stilling him for a moment. She looked at him, her blue eyes curious as the steam wafted up from the small earthen cup, brushing over her cheeks and blushing them pink. He suddenly found himself wondering if he had ever noticed that her eyes were rimmed with gold in the center. "Chichiri, are you ok?"

"Fine." he blinked once, his focus pulled back to the present moment. Mari looked down at their hands, chuckling softly as he pulled the cup from their shared grasp, raising it to his lips to try and hide the color he felt creeping into his cheeks. "I'm fine. Just... a bit tired."

It wasn't a lie, not truly.

It had started small. A brush of their fingertips as they passed scrolls back and forth. As they reached for the same quill. Nothing of consequence, just small touches that were easily explained away as they learned to work alongside each other during the earlier part of the week. Not drawing any notice other than a mumbled apology, if that. Until Mari had reached across the table, her fingers lingering over his as they had both pointed to the same passage of writing. Her eyes had flickered up, holding his gaze a moment too long before she had turned her face away, features hidden by her hair as it fell over the side of her face. He had found himself wishing that he could reach up to brush it out of the way, but when he had come back to himself Mari had turned away, writing on a blank page as if nothing had happened.

Perhaps it hadn't? Perhaps he'd imagined whatever it was he had seen flash in her eyes momentarily?

But the next day Mari had touched his shoulder, letting her hand rest there for a long moment as she asked him something. He couldn't remember what, he hadn't heard her. Sometime during the afternoon she had decided that it would be easier if they could read side by side, moving her cushion to his side of the table and settling next to him. Without the table between them, he couldn't help but be aware of her, and he has listened as Mari hummed softly to herself under her breath while she read. He hadn't known she did that.

At the end of the day, she had stretched with a great yawn before falling against his arm, looking up at him as she asked what he had planned for the rest of the evening. Mari listened quietly, eyes wistful as he shared with her the mundane tasks that would constitute the rest of his day, signing with longing at his freedom, despite the mediocrity it was filled with. He had cursed himself then, remembering her place in their strange arrangement.

That was the first night she had stolen sleep from him. Mari's eyes looking up at him in the dark as he had tried to sleep, wondering why he couldn't push her from his mind.

The following day he had brought her a vase of flowers to soothe the small sadness he had brought to her face the day before. Mari had smiled at him as she took the wildflowers in her arms, bringing the bouquet to her nose, those long lashes falling against her cheek as her eyes fell closed. She had thanked him, pulling him into a hug as she laughed her delight, the flowers still cradled gently to her chest. Held him until all he could smell were the flowers and her. She had tucked one behind her ear, fingers trailing over the soft petals before running absently to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. An action she had repeated over and over, the simple gesture stealing his attention until he had almost gone mad wishing he was the one running his fingers through her dark hair.

He had found no peace that night until he latched his window tight, barring the evening breeze from carrying the scent of wildflowers into his room.

Yesterday had been even worse. It had been hot, even in the depths of the dungeons, and Mari had pinned back her hair as best she could, her neck exposed to him as they worked, errant beads of sweat trailing down the back of it and disappearing behind her collar. The heat flushed her cheeks, making her lazy and quiet, her movements almost drunk in their slowness. The heat and the monotony of their work had pulled small sighs from her lips, little sounds that worked their way into his brain, tugging at him until he realized he had been reading the same passage over and over again. She had looked up at him once, smudging a small bit of charcoal by the corner of her eye as she brushed back a sweaty lock of hair. He hadn't thought about it then, only reached out to wipe it away with a thumb.

"Oh." The sound had tumbled from her, the smallest exhalation of breath, before she smiled at him, wide and radiant, her eyes crinkling in the corner as she laughed, his thumb still lingering on her skin. That was when he had discovered that he wanted to kiss her.

He had let her go, pulling away from the small table to excuse himself early. Hating to leave her alone but unable to stay any longer. She should sleep, he had suggested, he would return when it was cooler. Mari had only nodded quietly, her eyes a bit sad as she watched him go, her back pressed to the opposite wall as he slipped from her cell under the warden's watchful gaze.

He didn't made it back as he had promised. Instead, he had spent the rest of the day in his room, legs folded under him in meditation as he reminded himself of the vows he took. The promises he had made. Repeating ancient words over and over long into the dark of night as he tried to scrub the afternoon from his mind. But the thoughts of her still returned, a vision lingering behind his eyelids as he slept. White skin and that dark hair pinned on the back of her neck. Her collar, hanging loose over her shoulders, falling lower as his hand slipped along her skin.

He had found himself awake suddenly, gasping for air as he untangled himself from his sheets. Splashing cold water over his face as he tired to wash the dreams from his mind. He found himself dreading the coming afternoon as much as he was longing for it, spending half the day mustering the courage to bring himself to return to her, watching with simultaneous terror and relief as she smiled up at him, backing against the far wall so the warden could let him into her cell, only so he could find himself here, her hand on his shoulder and her body pushed to his back, unassuming and wonderful and terrible.

"I should go." He lowered the cup to the table, pushing to his feet more quickly than he had intended, sending her staggering back a step.

"Did I do something?" her voice was small as he turned to look at her. "I don't mean to trap you down here with me. I know you have more important things to do." There was a sadness there in her voice as she spoke. "It's just, you've been so quiet. I know we haven't found anything yet, but if you'd rather not come down here anymore, I can-" His hands found hers, enfolding them in his own as he stepped toward her.

"Mari, that's not it. I..." her eyes flickered up to hold his gaze, lambent even in the gloom of the dungeons, her lip finding its way beneath her teeth as she waited for him to speak. "I..." Something changed in her face as she waited for his answer, a tiny shift that stole the words from him. That pulled him toward her, his eyelids falling half closed as he felt his head inch closer to hers. Heard her breath catch in her throat.

"My Lord Chichiri." the warden coughed suddenly, interrupting them with a rather inelegant snort. "There seems to be a commotion with Lord Tasuki and Lady Su in the courtyard." Chichiri jumped back from Mari suddenly, feeling very much like a boy who had been caught doing something very improper by his father, cheeks staining red under the warden's rather bemused gaze. Mari didn't fare much better, turning away to hide her face in her sleeve as she retreated to the far wall, letting Chichiri slip out of her cell. When the gate was closed and locked once more, she returned to the bars, her fingers closing around them as she pleaded softly.

"Please, come back later?" Even though he wanted to run, to turn and forget her in the dark, he found he could not deny her.

"I will."

* * *

Su panted heavily, eyes angry as she stared down the bandit across the courtyard. His eyes were just as angry, narrowing as he bared his teeth, his voice ringing out in the tense silence.

"REAKKA -" The blast of light hit him full in the chest, throwing him several feet back and planting him firmly on his back, his tessen skittering across the stone. "That's IT!" He roared, sitting up after being knocked down for what felt like the hundredth time that afternoon. "I fuckin' quit."

"Tasuki, it's just a training exercise." Nuriko chided him at his outburst, tsking softly as he shook his head and offered him a hand. He swatted it away, getting loudly to his feet.

"Tell that to her!" he spat in Su's direction, earning himself a very sour glance from the girl.

"Tell that to my singed hair!" she shouted back at him, blowing back the lock of hair that kept falling in her eyes, too short now to be tucked behind her ear after an errant flame had burned half its length away.

"Yer lucky that's all you got."

"Enough! Both of you!" Nuriko snapped, shoving Tasuki toward the gate. "You, go cool your head! We're done for today." Tasuki muttered as he left the courtyard, seeking the quiet of his room to lick his wounds. Nuriko waited for him to go before wheeling on Su. "What has gotten into you this past week?"

"Me?" she sputtered, crossed arms falling to her side as she blinked, wide-eyed, at the man. "Why don't you ask 'Lord Pain-in-my-Ass' what's gotten into him! Ever since I told him to stop butting in to my business he's been trying to do his best to aggravate me!" She flopped down where she stood, running her hands through her hair.

"Did you two have a fight?" Nuriko settled himself by her side, arranging his skirts as he looped an arm around the girl, pulling her to his shoulder.

"Yeah. After Mari... after I woke up." she sulked. "He told Mari to stay away from me. Stupid bandit thinks he can tell me what to do just 'cause we're friends."

"It's been stressful for all of us. We haven't been on our best behavior lately, but we're doing the best we can."

"I know." Su sighed, letting her head fall against Nuriko's shoulder. "I just miss having someone to talk to. It was nice when he was just there, you know?" Nuriko smiled softly, standing and helping the girl to her feet.

"Maybe you should tell him how you feel." he suggested.

"Yeah, when pigs fly."

"Stranger things have happened, you know." There was a hint of laughter to his voice as he smiled at her, turning to leave as he called out over his shoulder. "Go on, we're done for the day. We'll try again tomorrow."

* * *

Su's feet led her to the dungeons, the guards knowing better than to try and stop her at this point. She found Mari where she had every day for the past week, the girl kneeling on a small silk cushion, pouring over the scrolls in front of her at the small table. Chichiri had found something she needed to aid her research every day, it seemed. New lanterns to read by, a small table to write on, a few pillows for them to sit upon, a warm blanket to stave off the cold during the long nights. There was even a small teapot with two cups resting on top of the small chest, the ornate drawers holding garments that had been summoned after he found the shift she had been issued unsuitable for their research. The cell was almost unrecognizable at this point, dressed in enough small comforts to merit calling it an actual room. Even his cloak still remained, draped neatly over the bed on top of the soft coverlet. Only the immobile steel bars remained to remind them both that Mari was still a prisoner.

"Mari?"

"Hey!" She looked up from her scrolls, placing them down as she moved to stand, smiling at the unexpected company.

"Any luck yet?" Su settled into a small chair by the bars as Mari did the same on the other side.

"Not yet. Nothing beyond the priestess and her warriors. Though it's a bit... embellished." she chuckled, remembering one of the more flowery passages she had read earlier that day. Su gave a half hearted laugh in return, drawing Mari's attention out of her research as she looked at her friend. "What's wrong?"

"I dunno. I've been fighting with Tas all week." she sighed, falling back in her chair as she covered her face with her hands.

"What? Why? I thought you two were getting along so well?"

"We were, until he told me to stay away from you!" she groused.

"He was just worried about you." Mari countered, her defense of the boy unexpected. "I can't say I would have done any differently in his shoes."

"But you're my friend!" Su whined.

"And so is he." Mari smiled at Su. "He just cares about you."

"Well he has a funny way of showing it." Su sulked. "It was so much easier when I could just tap into his mind. Now that we have to talk, I feel like it's all getting lost in translation." Mari stilled, her eyes looking through Su momentarily.

"Say that again..." her voice was low, far away. Su could almost hear the gears turning in her mind,

"What? That we're not communicating?"

"That it's lost in translation! That must be it!" She jumped to her feet, finding a piece of paper and a scrap of charcoal as she began scribbling frantically. "Do you remember what you heard when I read the book the first time? Back when we first got here?" Su tried to remember back to that stupid, dusty book that had started this whole mess, not quite sure what it had to do with her and Tasuki's current predicament.

"The Universe Ruled by Multiple Gods? I dunno, something about a girl collecting the stars of Suzaku and getting a wish?" Mari held up the paper, reading what she had written down.

"This story is about a woman who reached her dreams by coming to collect all the stars of the Beast God. She gained the powers of a god, and was gifted all she desired. The tome before you is a spell in itself. The one who reads it will join the woman in the story, blessed with the powers of a true warrior of the Beast God, and given a wish."

"How in the hell did you remember all that?" Su asked, eyes wide as Mari started laughing at the sheaf of paper.

"It's a mistranslation! It was supposed to say become the woman, not join! The powers of a warrior, all these strange things happening to us, it's all because the story, the spell, was transcribed incorrectly. We're not the priestesses. We're their warriors. Warriors for the beast gods! You for Suzaku..."

"And you for Seriyuu." Su sat back, the reality of it all sinking in. "Mari, this isn't just a story anymore. These are real people, with real lives."

"Lives they're going to lose if they're not careful." She placed the paper in her lap with a sigh. "We need to tell them."

"We can't! What if we do something wrong and end up making Nakago king of everything?"

"Is that better than what happens if we do nothing? Su, they'll die! Almost all of them! We still have time! If Amiboshi did run away, then we just need to find Chiriko. If we can just summon Suzaku in time, this will all end. No death! No war! We can go home and be done with it!"

"Go home..." Su turned over the thought as Mari looked at her hands nervously.

"Besides, I might have said some things to Tasuki that I didn't quite mean to say." she cringed as Su's eyes snapped to her, her jaw hanging slack. "Something along the lines of him being one of the only ones left standing when Suzaku was done with him." Her voice grew softer and softer as Su's face turned a deeper shade of red.

"You said WHAT?"

"You were an unconscious heap on the floor and he had just tried to incinerate me! I wasn't really in my right mind at the time!" she sputtered. Su raised her hand to her forehead, massaging away the headache she felt coming on in a fairly good impression of Hotohori when he was at the end of his patience.

"At least he has no one to tell. I don't think he's speaking to anyone at all, let alone me. If we can just keep him quiet long enough maybe we can take care of this all before we ruin it even more."

* * *

Tasuki sat alone in his room, letting the dark of the evening fall on him as he made friends with the bottom of a bottle of sake. His thoughts bubbled through his head in drunken disarray, eyes fixed on the damned necklace dangling from his fingertips. He cursed Su with each swig of the alcohol, drinking deeper and deeper until he couldn't picture her face in his mind anymore.

"Stupid girl, with 'er stupid necklace, an' 'er stupid friend." He brought the bottle once more to his lips, frowning when it failed to produce more than a drop. "Stupid bottle." It found its way across the room as a knock rang on his door. "Whaddya want?!"

"Lord Tasuki, you have a vi-" A brash, familiar voice rang out, cutting off the servant as it rambled a loud string of nonsense at the other side of the door.

"Outta the way, you! Oi, Genrou, it's Kouji! Oh, Kouji? Come in in why don't cha! Why, I would be delighted. Hey, you, open the door."

"Lord Tasuki?" The poor, beleaguered servant asked feebly, ducking out of the way just as Kouji kicked the door open, blinking into the darkness.

"Genrou, you in here?"

"Kouji!" Tasuki hiccuped loudly, stumbling to his feet and practically falling over himself as he tried to greet his friend. Kouji caught him carefully, his playful smile vanishing in an instant.

"Damn, Gen. I didn't think it was this bad." He whistled, leading Tasuki back into the dark room. "I got it from here, pops!" he called over his shoulder, dismissing the servant with a nod. Tossing his friend onto his bed, he managed to find a lamp, lighting it and bringing it to the bedside. "What the hell has gotten into you besides all the drink? I ain't seen you this pissed in a good long while."

"Don't wanna talk 'bout it." Tasuki grumbled into a pillow, burying his face in it as he rolled onto his side.

"Well yer gonna, cause I rode all the way out here to talk about it. You were actin' all funny back on Reikaku. I thought it might have somethin' to do with Su. I didn't know she was this far under your skin, though." Tasuki glowered from the bed.

"Told ya, 's not the girl." Kouji raised an eyebrow at the denial, a wry grin creasing his mouth against his better judgement.

"Really, Gen-chan? Then please tell me what it is that's got you drinkin' 'nough for the whole mountain. Alone. In the dark." The drunken boy on the bed growled in frustration, a fist striking the mattress as his side.

"Ya know me too well, 'Ji." he griped, eyes struggling to focus on the boy at his side. "But that stupid girl isn't the only reason." He groaned at that small confession, casting a hand over his eyes. "She has this friend, see?" Kouji whistled, long and low, earning a wince from the tipsy bandit at his side.

"My, things do get interestin' here."

"Goddamit, ain't ya gonna listen Kouji? I'm tryin' ta tell ya summin' serious and ya go makin' –"

"Okay, okay!" Kouji held his hands up, eyes wide. "Gods Gen-chan, what're they doin' to ya here?" Tasuki sighed, flopping back onto the pillows once more, a deep sigh leaving his lips.

"Jus' all their goddamn fancy manners, and all the 'lord' stuff. They think we're gonna save the world or summin', y'know? I'm just a, a... a bandit. An, yeah, sure, the girl. Su." He scowled at Kouji, daring him to comment. "Not that she acts like girls're s'posed ta. Crazy damn woman... She actually yelled at me fer tryin' ta protect her... An' all these fuckin' secrets! Su's frien', Mari. She's with Seiryuu or summin' an'... " He paused long, hesitating as the words echoed through his head once more. "It like she knows what was gonna happen to me, ya know?"


	16. A Few Good Seishi

"I assume Tasuki will be taking his... meal in his room again?" Hotohori raised an eyebrow at the empty spot at the table as the other warriors settled aroundhim. Nuriko pursed his lips, eyes flickering to the unoccupied chair before returning to the emperor.

"He was on the end of a rather rough training session, your Highness." Tamahome snorted, muttering too loud to Miaka.

"Like none of us know he's been drinking himself to sleep for the past week." The girl swatted him on the arm with a frown, quickly exchanging her aggrieved look for an eager smile as she chirped back at him.

"At least it means that Su's learning, right?" Nuriko hid a smile, thinking of the newly shortened lock of hair the foreign girl sported.

"She's improving. Though it might help to get someone else with a little more... magical aptitude to work with her." he shrugged, turning to Chichiri. "I know you're busy with the Lady Mari, but it could help to have someone who understands magic more than Tasuki or I..." Chichiri nodded, opening his mouth the respond when the emperor cut him off.

"And how is the work with the Lady Mari going?" The man's eyes rose from his meal, a neat bite of food finding its way between his lips as he contemplated the monk. "It has been a week without word on your successes." Chichiri dropped his fork suddenly, cursing softly as it fell into his bowl with a loud clang.

"Some progress has been made, you know? We're trying to identify a line of reasoning as to why she and the Lady Su are here." The eyes around the table rose to his face, and the monk squirmed uncomfortably under the examination, grateful for the mask that hid his flushed face from them. "She continues to research, so there might be more information forthcoming." The emperor nodded slowly, eyes sliding over Chichiri's mask.

"Do continue."

"Her theory is that is has something to do with her and Su's origin in their world. It's possible their version of the legend is different, you know?"

"Well that makes sense!" Miaka smiled at the faces around the table, happy for the neat explanation. "They're clearly from a different country, so it seems logical that a translation of the book could have resulted in this. I mean, that explains why there's one aligned with Suzaku and one with Seriyuu, just like..." she trailed off, smile fading as her thoughts turned to her best friend. "Well, at least they get to be in the same place." Nuriko pulled the girl under his arm, tsking softly as he rubbed her back.

"We'll rescue Yui soon, don't worry Miaka." Chichiri turned back to his food, relieved as the table's attention shifted once again. He felt his cheeks flush under Hotohori's pointed questions, knowing that he hadn't been as attentive as he should have been in the last week. Mari had proven... distracting.

"Chichiri?"

"Highness?" the monk blinked as the emperor's voice cut through his musing.

"I said, is it possible she may know more? Of our situation. Or the Kutou situation? You said there may be more information forthcoming. If a valid theorem has presented itself, surely she's not wasting time on pursuing other lines of reason?" Chichiri swallowed, unsure of his next steps. Suddenly, the conversation he had overheard between Mari and Su earlier in the week sprung to the front of his mind. To tell the man of the conversation, of the possibility that the girls may know what was to become of them – the betrayal would be too great to expect them to forgive. But one did not simply lie to the Emperor of Konan. One did not betray their comrades. He clenched his fists in his lap, trying his best to choose his next words carefully.

"I believe that she and the Lady Su may know a bit more than they're saying, yes. But they may not. Miaka cannot say what will come to pass, you know?" The calculating look on Hotohori's face told the monk he had said enough; too much, perhaps.

"We will visit the Lady Mari after our meal." Hotohori gestured to a nearby servant, issuing a soft command. "Bid the Lord Tasuki and the Lady Su to join us in the dungeons once we have finished. I believe they may be necessary for this discussion as well." The emperor returned to his repast, the warriors around the table following suit. Chichiri set his utensils down, carefully pushing his plate away, the anxiety pooling in his stomach chasing any semblance of hunger away.

* * *

Mari looked up from her scroll as the emperor entered her cell, for a moment too frightened to move. Taking a deep breath, she mustered as much decorum as she could manage before slowly rising from the small cushion to sketch low bow before the man.

"Your Highness." she murmured, gesturing to the bed. "I'm afraid I don't have much to offer by way of seating, but perhaps you would find the bed acceptable?" The man inclined his head, moving to seat himself carefully on the edge of the mattress as she settled back to the pillow. He peered around the room, eyes taking the small items that had been provided to her.

"Chichiri tells me you have been deep in research, digging for information about your presence among us. Searching for further knowledge about us. About our priestess. Is that correct, Mari?" His mouth smiled, an expression that didn't quite touch the rest of his face. Her eyes flickered to Chichiri where he stood uncomfortably in the doorway, true expression hidden from sight behind that damned mask.

"You already know the answer to that, Highness." She watched as his hand tightened on the hilt of his sword. "Perhaps I can persuade you to ask what you've truly come here to find out?"

"Indeed." He fixed her with a thoughtful gaze, eyes hard as he considered her. "I know almost everything that goes on in my palace. Even those goings on that happen in the dark of the dungeon." Mari sighed, exasperated with the obsequious politicking.

"Highness, with respect, I cannot give you a direct answer unless you ask me a direct question."

"Understood." the handsome face went cold, all trace of the courtly emperor gone. "What do you know of the plots of Seiryuu? Of their battle plans? Do you know of what will come to pass?" He paused, fear just flittering at the edge of his expression before he gave life to his next words. "What do you know of our destiny?" Mari's eyes moved to Chichiri, mentally cursing the mask that hid his face. What had he heard? What did he know that caused the emperor of Konan to pay her a visit in this dank cell?

"Your Highness, even if I did know more than I have told you... it wouldn't be wise for me to share knowledge that could affect the plans of fate." He looked at her for a long, quiet moment before a laugh curled his lips upward. In the next instant she found him on her feet, the edge of his sword at her throat.

"Hotohori!" Chichiri shouted, moving towards the pair, hands already reaching for the weapon. Hotohori held out a hand, stalling the monk without casting him so much as a glance. A blue glow rose around Mari, enveloping her and the emperor as a wind with no apparent source rose, lifting their hair and clothing to dance elegantly around them both.

"Please, your Highness. Stop this. Being frightened makes it harder for me to control my magic and I don't want to hurt you in anyway."He ignored her plea, his worried mind desperately seeking any answers she might hold.

"Tell me truthfully, Mari. What is it that you know? What secrets are you withholding from us?" He pushed the sword closer to her throat, and she could feel her pulse ticking wildly against the unforgiving steel.

"Your Highness, please." Mari looked at him with pleading eyes, the fear of her position leaking through her poised shell. "Any knowledge I may have is better left unsaid, I swear to you!"

"Hotohori, please." Chichiri tried again, approaching the two glowing figures in desperation, surprised at the tense fury he could see on the emperor's face. "This is madness. Enough!" Distracted by the light of Mari's power, the man ignored the monk, intent on the girl before him.

"You stand here before me, the aura of Seiryuu clearly visible upon you – what reason have I to believe that you keep our best interests at heart?"

"My power is my own, however I came by it. I swear to you, I intend no harm!" She spoke through clenched teeth, trying desperately to force her magic to fall away, sweat beading on her brow with the effort. "Highness! Hotohori... Please, stop this now!" Her gasp cut through the cell as the cold steel just pierced her skin, a ruby droplet of blood welling along it's edge. Mari closed her eyes against the little hurt, struggling against her magical instinct, pulling at the power as hard as she could. She mustn't hurt this man, their emperor, she mustn't-

Suddenly the pressure disappeared, the sword gone from her neck as quickly as it had come. A bizarre scene greeted her eyes as they flew open, the details searing into her mind in a confused rush: Chichiri's unmasked face, single eye fierce in its gaze on the emperor; Hotohori's bewildered face, eyes flickering from Mari to the monk, to the blade in his hands; Chichiri's hand, blood curling delicately down his wrist from where his palm was forced against the blade, pushing the steel from Mari's throat.

"That is enough, your Highness." The monk's voice was low, the calm words belying the intensity of his face. Hotohori gently pulled his weapon back, wincing as the monk curled his injured hand away, breaking their gaze as he turned toward Mari. Dropping to his knees on a cushion beside her, he placed a gentle arm around her shoulders as he conjured a cloth, pressing it to her neck with his good hand. As the last of her power fell away, spasms wracked her body with the adrenaline of the encounter, soft tears creeping down her face in the dim light.

"Highness!" The voice of a guard gave the group a start, cutting lightly through the tension. "The Lord Tasuki is here. Please excuse the delay. We had hoped that some tea might help, but I fear..." The man trailed off, lips pinching together as the drunken bandit stumbled into the room.

"Whadda ya want, 'Tohori?" His eyes swam over to the two kneeling by the small table. "Oi, what gives with this broad? Why we gotta come down to the dungeon jus' ta see 'er?" He thumbed his finger in Mari's general direction, too drunk to feel frightened of her or see the state the encounter with the emperor had left her in.

"Why don't you have a seat, Tasuki." Chichiri offered softly, the gesture he gave to the last cushion at his side ignored as the bandit took the comment literally, giving an indifferent shrug before crashing to the floor right where he stood.

"Mari? What's going on?" Su's voice cut through the room as she rounded the corner, a scowl finding her face as she tripped over the bandit in the doorway.

"Lady Su, please join us and have a seat." Hotohori offered, finally finding his voice again. Su strode defiantly around Tasuki, standing as close to Mari as she dared before turning to face the Emperor with a gaze that could only be described as petulant.

"I'll stand, thank you."

"As you wish." Hotohori sighed, turning his gaze from Su to Tasuki. "Tasuki, I suspect that Su and her friend may have knowledge that they have been keeping from us." The bandit swallowed, eyes widening at the proclamation. "Due to your... unique connection with the Lady Su, we had hoped you may be able to shed some light on the situation." Su's gaze flew to the bandit, her eyes narrowing as she reached for a connection that wasn't there.

"Let me in." she whispered, voice soft. "Dammit Tas', let me in." He shook his head, avoiding her eyes as he struggled to make a decision.

"Mari, she..."

"I can explain! Please, Tasuki, just let me explain first." Su moved across the room, dropping to her knees before him as her fingers curled over his jaw, tilting his face towards hers, startling him into looking at her. "Please."

Tasuki searched the girls eyes as his split loyalties quarreled in his head and heart, fangs pressing into his lower lip. He finally closed his eyes, a frown breaking across his features as he whispered, "I think... they know the future. They know what's gonna to happen to all of us. They know who's gonna die."


	17. The Truth about Dragons and Phoenixes

Hotohori paled, exhaling sharply. Chichiri's eyes flared and locked on Mari as she clenched her teeth and glared at the red-haired bandit.

"NO! You bastard!" Su lashed out, a sharp slap echoing through the room before his hands locked around her wrists in self-defense. "Let me go!" Su's red power flared around her as she struggled, Mari's own power brightly erupting in response. The guards standing post in the hallway moved toward the cell door when it abruptly slammed shut, an impenetrable wall of purple light throwing the dungeon into sharp relief.

"GUARDS!" Hotohori shouted, eyes widening at this new development.

"I'm sorry, your Highness." Mari switched her gaze to Tasuki, the bandit just managing to get a struggling Su locked in a clumsy grip across his lap. "Let her go," she growled at the bandit. Su jerked away as his grip relaxed, clambering from the boy's lap and across the cell to a safe distance by her friend, eyes hurt as she rubbed at her wrists. A crowd had developed outside the bright barrier, growing louder as more guards gathered to the light barring them from their emperor. The girls eyed the men, feeling their fists fall feebly against the wall. It would hold. They turned back to the group before them. "Here's what we're going to do." Mari hissed. "You all are going to listen to us for once, and we're going to tell you everything you need to know." Hotohori's mouth opened and closed again silently, his outrage evident in his tense posture. Mari only glared at him with her glowing blue eyes, daring him to try and defy her. Both Chichiri and Tasuki has fallen still at her side, both of them wide-eyed as the girls held the barrier around them. "Send them away." Mari warned Hotohori calmly. "This is not for their ears." He gave her a hard glance, unused to taking orders, before raising his hand toward the bars.

"You are dismissed. I will call for you again shortly."

"Highness, we-"

"Must I repeat myself?!" They bowed at his scolding, swiftly vacating the hallway. Mari watched them go, waiting for the last man to round the corner before she spoke.

"You need to listen now, and listen well, all of you. Yes, to some degree, Su and I have some knowledge of your futures. But, as I am discovering, our... records are a bit less accurate than we thought. Mistranslated is the best way I can explain it. All I know for certain is that we should never have been able to appear with Miaka and Yui already in place."

"We know how your lives should play out without us here. Now that we are here, though, the order of things..." Su offered weakly, "the future as Mari and I know it could be compromised. Our very presence is a threat to the future you were supposed to have."

"It could be good for some of you," Mari added quietly, "but if the ultimate outcome is different... it could spell disaster for everyone." The girls looked at each other one more sad time."It's already changed us."

"I barely recognize us." Su whispered back. The room rang with silence for long minutes as the warriors across from them mulled over the resonance of their words, the meaning of their presence. Hotohori was the first to raise his head.

"So, Tasuki was correct? You know what will become of us? You do know who is intended to die?"

"I... in theory, yes." Mari hedged, wondering how best to continue. "But it would be best we don't tell you anything. I'm sorry, Tasuki. I should never have said that to you."

"But you're here." cut in Chichiri "You're here, and it's already too late. You said so yourself! What does it matter if you tell us? What if it can prevent those deaths?"

"You've already changed us, ya know?" Tasuki looked at Su's angry profile. "Why can't we all just try to prevent the death and get the best outcome for everyone?" Mari looked at Su, knowing that she promised to keep silent, but losing her resolve in the face of the warrior and their rising panic.

"What if he's right, Su?" Mari protested weakly, lip trembling slightly as she contemplated the price that Amiboshi might have paid for her meddling in his affairs. She turned her gaze to Chichiri. "You are still shy one warrior, correct? Chiriko is not among you, yet?"

"No." Chichiri confirmed. "The search has been postponed during, well, recent events. We've all been a bit distracted, you know?"

"There is a boy, a member of the Seiryuu Seven." Mari began, hesitant. "Amiboshi. He was to be sent to you in the disguise of Chiriko."

"What!? You knew about this and you..!" Hotohori bristled at the idea. Mari only held up a hand, halting his tirade before it began.

"I knew about this, and I escaped Kutou's palace and risked my life and capture to stop him! It was Nakago's doing, not mine. He does not share his plans with me or his men the way you do with each other. I was set in the role of a pawn, something to parade about and control. I was his pet, Highness. When I did not comply, I was punished." Mari held his gaze as the gravity of her words sunk in. He backed down quietly, letting her continue. "But he was to be sent to you in a reality in which I, we, were not among you. I came back to stop him. He can't finish his mission now. I would know it was him."

"As would I." Su added quickly. "I would have known him even if Mari hadn't come back."

"I couldn't risk letting him try. There was no guarantee you'd let Su see him before it was too late. Amiboshi was the catalyst that begins the true battle between you and the Warriors of Seiryuu. I begged him to run. If he listened to me and is truly gone, then there is no one to stop you from finding Chiriko and summoning Suzaku. The war will end before it begins. But if that is the path you choose to follow, Su and I won't know any more than you do."

"So then, do you know what's gonna happen ta us or don't cha?" Tasuki erupted with a growl, fisting his hands into his hair in frustration.

"The more we all change it, the less we know." Su admitted.

"Please, give us until you find Chiriko." Mari pleaded. "If you do, and you are unable to summon Suzaku, I'll tell you everything. Until then, do what you feel is right. Chain me to the wall of my cell again if you feel safer that way. That way I can't harm anyone until this is all done."

"Mari! NO!" Su reached for her friend, the girl gasping as she was thrown violently back by a shimmering field of blue light as her fingers wrapped around Mari's arm. Tasuki was immediately at her side, pulling her off the cold floor. Mari scrambled to her feet, cringing into the furthest corner of her cell, face turned away to hide her tears. As the barriers faded, the three men stared at the girls huddled on opposite corners of the room, and for the first time Hotohori truly saw the pain the ordeal had been causing them. It gave him pause, overriding his anger as he imagined his priestess in their places, lost and frightened.

"I think we're finished here for today." Hotohori took advantage of the momentary distraction to call to the guards, who were inside the room in less than a second as the barrier disappeared, spears to Mari's throat. "That will not be necessary. She is to remain under guard here, that is all for now." He waved them off of her, ignoring their murmured protests. "Please see the Lady Su to her chambers, and see that she stays there until I call for her again." He rose from his seat, making even that simple action seem incredibly regal. "I think it's time we assemble all the warriors of Suzaku and the priestess together. We have been idle long enough."

* * *

"Lord Nakago, I have brought the boy."

"Show him in." Nakago called idly from the shadow of the room, squinting as the bright light of the hallway pierced the gloom. The boy stepped in cautiously, fidgeting with his hands and turning like a frightened bird as the door was closed behind him, engulfing him in darkness. "Come here, Suboshi."

"Lord Nakago. You wanted to see me?" Suboshi carefully addressed his general, fear weakening his voice.

"How are you faring, Suboshi?" Nakago rose from his chair, reaching out to the boy until a hand rested on his small shoulders. He could feel the boy trembling.

"I, my brother, Sir." Suboshi's shoulders shook all the harder as the boy tried not to shed tears. "Where have you sent him?"

"Your brother is dead, Suboshi."

"Lord Nakago?" He looked up at the general, eyes wide as he took in the full meaning of his words. "How?"

"The girl, Mari. She has escaped. She attacked Tomo and fled the palace for Konan. I can only assume she sought him out there and killed him." Nakago drawled dryly.

"The Lady Mari. But why? Why would she do that?" He protested, tears streaming down his cheeks.

"Because she has betrayed us. She has left us to join the Suzaku." Nakago pulled the boy to his chest, stroking his hair softly as Suboshi dissolved into vengeful tears. He balled his fists at his side, his entire being radiating with hatred.

"Then I will kill her." he threatened between clenched teeth.

"Yes, Suboshi, I believe you will." Nakago smiled in the darkness as he watched the pieces fall into place. Meanwhile, deep under the great Palace of Koutou, Amiboshi lay suspended in chains, trapped in a drugged sleep, dead to the world.


	18. The Bold and the Bakas

It was the following morning when Su was shown to the throne room, entering to see the emperor already seated in his ornate throne, Miaka to his right, Tamahome to his left. The four remaining warriors settled on the floor below his dais, heads bowed in an unusual show of subservience, his advisors seated in a neat row behind them. From her position at the door, the classic scene of feudal China left Su feeling too tall, too awkward, too foreign... too far from home and time. A pang of homesickness hit her hard, the gravity of the situation and lack of friendly support leaving her grasping for her normal optimistic acceptance. She blinked back the tears swiftly, swallowing the pain as she forced herself to listen to Hotohori's formal announcement.

"The seven warrior must all be found in order for the Lady Miaka to summon Suzaku. Nuriko, Tamahome, Tasuki, Mitsukake, Chichiri, myself – we're only missing Chiriko." The emperor crooked a finger at Su, drawing her forward before the small crowd. "The foreign– the Ladies Mari and Su believe they can help us find him. They also have theories on... possible aspects of the legend we may have missed before now." He nodded to Su, settling back in his chair as she looked over the small gathering, taking a deep breath before she leapt into the explanation.

"At this point in time, the Seiryuu have their seven warriors, and their priestess –" Su spared an apologetic glance for Miaka, "a young girl named Yui Hongo. But they have not yet attempted to summon Seiryuu. Mari and I speculate that this is because all members of the Seiryuu clan, including her, must be present to summon him. With her still in the palace, they are unable to take any further steps in their quest."

"But... but that means they'll be planning to attack the palace!" Miaka cried out, tears welling in her eyes.. The room burst into noise as the warriors and advisors clamored for her attention at once, questions flying alongside accusations as she struggled to keep up. She finally gave up, throwing her hands up before her with a shout.

"Enough, all of you! Honestly, you are the most disorganized, dramatic group of so-called warriors I've ever seen." Su's reprimand brought scowls to their face, Tamahome trying to rise against the hold Miaka claimed on his arm. "You have to pull it together if you want to have any chance at beating Nakago and his team – they've been training, preparing, and waiting for this moment. You haven't. You've been too busy moping, drinking and trying to woo each other! Mari and I can help you if you'd just let us. Stop mistrusting everything we try to tell you and there's a chance we could win this war!"

The warriors had gone wide-eyed through her speech, developing an urgent interest in their hands, heads bowing one by one through her tirade. Only one pair of hazel eyes stayed on her and she glared them down as she continued, willing herself to stay angry. "Chiriko is here, somewhere, in the capital. Hotohori's guards are already seeking him out among the officials at the college. It's a good first step." she nodded to the emperor. "Mari must be kept here. Without her, the Seiryuu clan is helpless in summoning their god. Hotohori thinks it best to keep her under lock and key in the dungeons. While I can't say that I think it for the best, I do agree she will be safe there. It buys us some time. Hotohori, it would do to begin gathering your troops into the city."

She ignored the sudden grumbling among the advisors, steeling herself against the inevitable backlash of her next words. "Fate will do what it can to even the balance that Mari and I have thrown into disarray. If Suzaku is summoned, Kutou will be greatly weakened, but it may not stop them from attacking the city. The warrior must start preparing for battle; it would do well for Miaka to take some time away from her romance to follow Mari's example and study–"

"Now look here," Tamahome cut Su off, eyes glaring angrily at her, "I don't know what's happened in the past couple weeks, but when did we start taking orders from this girl? When did you all decide to trust her? She's not a warrior, she's not a priestess... she's nothing! Just a -" Tamahome was cut off before this final insult, surrounded by a ball of red light, mouth moving, but no sound coming out. His fists beat against the ward, eyes narrowing at Su in fury as he struggled against the trap. Su looked slowly around the room, gaze drifting over the shocked faces, taking in the anger, fear and anxiety of the little group before her eyes came back to rest on her now-silent hostage.

"I may not be a priestess, or a warrior, or anything you think you can trust." She took a deep breath. "But if you dare to ignore me... if you dare to ignore Mari. You will all die, painfully, violently. Your country will be torn asunder, those you hold dear will die, and all will be lost."

* * *

"Dokun Oh?" At his name, the small boy turned from his books, chignon of hair bobbing as he trained his innocent gaze on the guard at his back.

"How may I be of help?"

"Please come with us. His Majesty requests your presence." The boys eyes widened at the word, but he bowed shortly, falling in step with the four large men.

* * *

Suboshi rode all night and all day, his anger never slaking, the pain of loss and rage burning in his veins. She who dared take his brother from him would pay dearly. She would learn the meaning of cruelty, of pain.

He never stopped long enough to consider that he hadn't felt the loss of his twin. He never stopped long enough to consider that nothing that belonged to Amiboshi was returned to him. He merely rode on, inner eye seeing nothing but her pain, her fear, her death. She would suffer at his hands, and he would end her. But not before he chose to.

Cresting over a hill, he smiled as the gates of Konan came into view, urging his exhausted animal on ever harder.

* * *

It was twilight when the doors to the throne room opened again. A tenuous consensus had been reached after word had come that Chiriko had been found – Miaka should be made ready to summon Suzaku the following morning.

"I didn't expect this to happen like this. To happen so soon." Tamahome muttered, running his fingers gently through Miaka's hair as the couple bid farewell.

"It'll be alright, Tama. I know it will. Once I summon Suzaku, we can be together." She smiled up at him, closing her eyes blissfully as he placed a soft kiss on her lips. "Be nice to Su while I'm gone!" She called cheerfully as a retinue of servants whisked her away to be prepared for the following day.

Miaka had turned out to be an unexpected ally, which had surprised Su more than anyone. While she had held Tamahome in her wards, it was Miaka who stilled the commotion for her, coming to her defense even as Su held the boy she loved in the bondage of her magic.

"Can't you see how scared she is?" The small girl had pleaded, pulling on Hotohori's sleeve to command his attention. "I would do anything to keep Yui safe. She only wants to help us and protect her friend! Why do you all keep fighting with her!" Tears shimmered in Miaka's eyes as she rose, crossing the room to offer the stunned Su an embrace, locking her arms around the taller girl's waist. In her confusion, Su had dropped the ward holding Tamahome, the boy rising to his feet, a protest already on his lips.

"But Miaka!" He snapped, taking a step toward the girls as the mark on his forehead glowed softly with his suppressed rage.

"Tamahome! I expected better from you!" Miaka had scolded, stopping him in his tracks. "What if she had been the Priestess of Suzaku instead of me? Or if it had been Yui? Would you treat them the way you treat me?"

"I... Miaka..." He slumped as his frustration disappeared in the face of his love's admonishment.

"You should listen to her. She just wants to help us." From that point on, Su had found she didn't have to snap and bristle at the men anymore. Miaka remained by her side, guiding the discussion toward the best possible conclusion for everyone. For the first time since she arrived in Konan, Su felt accepted by all the warriors, if not yet fully trusted.

_Why couldn't I have thought of this method sooner?_ she thought ruefully, fingers playing absent-minded along her necklace.

"Why don't we all get some rest?" Hotohori suggested kindly, noticing the weary glances and sagging shoulders of everyone assembled in the hallway. "I will have Chiriko brought to me when he arrives, and in the morning we will take steps to summon Suzaku." He beamed with pride at the new plan, embodying the image of the regal emperor so fully that Su couldn't help but smile. His optimism seemed to be infectious to the rest of the warriors as well, the tension melting away in their easy smiles and soft exchanges. "Lady Su, as soon as the ceremony is complete, I will have your friend brought to you. Is this acceptable?" He tentatively offered this olive branch after the long, trying day, studying her face as she considered his words.

"Yes, it is." She found she couldn't resent him for his actions – he acted in the best interest of those he loved, the country he was bound to protest. It was what Mari wanted, as well, and her continued entrapment had increased their trust. Su couldn't throw away that sacrifice now.

The group slowly began to disperse, retreating to their respective quarters as the evening slowly drew around the palace, lanterns lit and shutters pulled closed. Su lingered in the hallway, watching the warrior wander off, eyes drawn to Tamahome, the boy looking lost without Miaka at his side. Sadness touched her as she wondered what tomorrow would bring for him. Had he already fallen hard enough for Miaka to defy a god? Had they all grown enough for fate to accept this change in direction and lead these men and women to a new end? Her mind was falling deep into what this meant for her and Mari when a voice cut through.

"A coin for your thoughts?"

"Gods! Oh, don't do that 'Chiri!" Her hand fell from her necklace to her heart, feeling the beat race under her palm. "You scared me!"

"I'm sorry." He smiled weakly. "You looked sad. Were the results from the meeting not desirable?"

"It's ok... It's fine. I'm just... pensive, I guess." He looked at her a moment longer before frowning quietly, his voice low in his response.

"You don't think we'll succeed."

"I don't know." she admitted. "I just have a strange feeling. Like this is all happening too fast. Too easily."

"Perhaps it is meant to be this way?" Chichiri offered. "Perhaps your heart has suffered so much that this sudden opportunity looks more like a curse than a blessing."

"I hope so." She sighed, looking up at the monk. "How is Mari? Hotohori hasn't given me permission to see her again, yet." She watched the man grow uncomfortable, suddenly very interested in his shoes. "Chichiri, I'm not mad at you. I just want to know if she's ok."

"She was quiet when I left her this morning, just before the meeting. She seemed fine, just... wasn't interested in talking." He continued to contemplate the floor as he offered quietly, "I should never have told Hotohori you might know more. It was not the right action." It was Su's turn to surprise him, taking his hand in hers as he trailed off, eyes lifting to study her, noting that Miaka's presence had rubbed off on the girl. He was beginning to see a common thread between them all –Miaka, Su, Mari– lost, afraid, but filled with emotion and determined courage. How appropriate for Su, a servant of Suzaku, to explode in rage and fire when her heart was hurt.

She rubbed her thumb across his knuckles, offering him this small comfort with a sad smile. "You were just doing what you thought you had to do to protect your friends, Chichiri. Mari and I know that. Don't beat yourself up, you've never betrayed anyone." The intonation in her voice shook him more than the words should have. He felt as if she knew a piece of his past kept well hidden, looking straight through his mask at the scar underneath. He nodded, pulling his hand away and letting it fall to his side.

"I... thank you." He choked on the words, confusion of the day warring within him. "We should rest up, you know?" He offered her a wan smile, patting her on the shoulder before he turned down the hallway, heart heavy as his feet began the trek to Mari's cell, already forming an apology in his mind. Su watched him leave for a moment, eyes resting on his tense back as he disappeared toward the dungeons. With a sigh, she turned to her own rooms, dreading what the future had in store.

It was time to pray for a miracle.


	19. How I Learned to Love the Baka

It was near dark when Mari heard footsteps echoing in the hallway. She sat up out of her half-doze, rubbing her eyes and trying to pretend she hadn't shed any tears in the quiet of the afternoon. If anyone, she was expecting the emperor to return to her first. She hadn't thought she would find Tasuki standing in front of the bars when she looked up.

"Tasuki?" Mari questioned him softly, rising from the thin mattress and crossing the few steps it took to place her on the other side of the bars. "Have you found Chiriko? Is he safe?"

"Here." He produced a necklace from the depth of his pocket, thrusting it through the bars and into Mari's hands. "I don't know what else I can do for her." Mari looked at the beads in her hand, running them through her fingers thoughtfully.

"You care about her, don't you?" She looked at the necklace as she spoke, watching the beads glint in the dim light of the dungeons.

"Hell, of course not!" he hedged, stuffing his hands into his pockets roughly and looking anywhere but at her.

"You're a bad liar, Tasuki." Mari pushed, a smile tilting the corner of her mouth ever so slightly. She was amazed anything could make her smile after the day she had, but watching Tasuki turn red was melting her heart.

"So what if I do? What's it ta you, huh?" He crossed his arms, staring back at her, eyes wolf-like in their ferocity.

"Everything." Mari countered. "Look, Tasuki. I said some things to you that should have gone unsaid, and I am truly sorry. I can't make you forget them, but maybe I can ease your mind some." The bandit lowered his arms, wrapping his hands around the bars as he looked at the girl behind them earnestly, praying that she would tell him something that would bring some measure of peace to him. "Some of the biggest mistakes you make in your life are made because you hide your feelings. Especially when you care for someone. You keep it bottled inside, letting it boil and destroy you by inches until it explodes. But of all of the warriors of Suzaku, you are the most genuine. The most loyal. And if you can just admit to your feelings, you can save yourself. Caring for her might be what it takes to save you both." Tasuki held her gaze, unsure of what to say. Part of him felt like all this talk was foolish, but another part of him latched onto the truth of her words, ashamed that she could see his heart so plainly and lay it out before him. He felt her push the necklace back into his hands and tried to refuse them, but she only shook her head.

"But..."

"She needs you more right now." She closed his fingers around the necklace, resting her hand on top of his as he gripped them tightly. "So be there for her. I'll be down here when she needs me. But right now she has to stand on her own. While we might have an idea of what fate has in store for some of you, Su and I are flying blind here. We have to make our own way in this world." She stepped back from the bars, returning to the shadows of her cell. For the first time Tasuki truly saw Mari for she was. A foreign girl, scared and lost in a place where everything was strange and new to her. Arrived with too little, too late. He carefully pushed the necklace back in his pocket, a smirk twisting his lips as he ducked his head, looking at her through the strands of hair that fell in front of his face.

"Y'know, I never was one to leave things to fate." He chuckled. "Thanks, Mari." Turning, he set off down the hallway at a determined pace.

* * *

Suboshi crept along the streets outside of the palace. It had been agony, waiting until nightfall for his chance to strike. Sitting idly by, knowing that his brother's murderer rested like a queen in the hands of his enemy. Dark thoughts clouded his mind, driving him along as he frantically searched for a way in. He was so focused he almost missed the small palanquin being carried quietly through the streets by two servants of the emperor of Konan. He smiled a cruel smile, following the group like a cat in the shadows, waiting for a moment to strike.

He only needed a moment, and found it as the guards approached the gate, lowering the palanquin so they could show their identification to the guard through the small window. It only took no time at all to overpower the dozing boy within, striking him roughly on the head and depositing him, unconscious and bleeding, in a nearby bush before taking his place. The guards didn't seem to notice anything amiss as they returned, lifting him into the air and carrying him into the palace.

Directly to the emperor.

* * *

Tasuki found himself walking past Su's room for the third time that evening. Each time he worked up the courage to knock, he lost his resolve, pacing another circuit through the hallways before finding himself back at start once more. He paused again, worrying his lip with his teeth for a moment before raising his hand to try to knock once again.

"Come in." Tasuki looked at his still raised hand, and turned to find Su standing behind him. She couldn't help but chuckle at his surprised expression, forgetting momentarily to be cross at him.

"I... ah, I wanted to talk with ya. If that's all right?" he muttered.

"I said you could come in." Su repeated quietly, pulling the door aside and walking into her room, leaving Tasuki to find his own way inside. He stepped in after her, pausing for a moment before sliding the door shut behind them. "What did you want to talk about?" She turned to find him looking down at his hands, the necklace that matched her own winding between his long fingers. The sight of it brought a strange tightness to her chest; even though most of her anger had left after this afternoon, this stupid bandit still left her feeling raw when she looked at him.

"I went to see Mari... in the dungeons." he began quietly, looking up as Su inhaled sharply. "I tried to give 'er my necklace, so she could talk ta ya whenever ya wanted. So you didn't have ta miss each other s'much." He thumbed absently at one of the beads. Her own hand rose to touch the smaller echo of the jewelry that rested around her neck, her fingers mimicking his unconsciously as they touched the smooth glass.

"But you still have it." she countered.

"Yeah. She wouldn't take it. She told me that I should keep it. Said I needed to be here for you when she couldn't be." He swallowed hard, taking a step toward her and closing the distance between them.

"Oh, Tas." Su was touched by the gesture, her eyes warming and she smiled at him for the first time in what felt like ages. "Thank you."

"She told me I should be honest with myself." He looked down at her, taking the last step between them until he could feel the heat radiating off her body, slipping the beads carefully over his head, letting them fall to rest on his shoulders. Her eyes slipped closed, inhaling a deep breath as the comforting thrum of his mind gently fell into place. But something was different, now. Su's eyes slid open as she tried to identify it; warmth spreading across her cheeks as the bandit's gaze caught and held her's steady. He raised a hand, letting the back of his fingers stroke the long hair that framed her face behind an ear, sliding back until they rested on the nape of her neck. Su could feel his fingers trembling there, unsure of what to do next. _She told me to be honest with you._

Tasuki's words echoed inside her head, clouding her thoughts until all that remained was the hesitant touch on the back of her neck and his burning gaze. It was all too much, and she let her eyes fall closed, desperately trying to clear her head as she felt him pull her toward him, his breath hot on her lips before he touched them softly to his, the barest lingering touch of warmth, before pulling away to rest his forehead against hers.

"Tasuki..." she breathed, raising her hands to his face and threading her fingers through his fiery hair. She opened her eyes, looking at him with a quiet wonder, before fisting her hands in his wild hair and pulling his lips to hers again. There was nothing gentle about it, and she could feel him growl against her mouth as he wrapped his arms fiercely around her, pushing her backwards with heated kisses until she felt the wall on her back.

And for the next long while, both of them found that not a word needed to be spoken.


	20. Sleepless in Seiryuu

With the coming of the night, the dungeons were plunged into darkness. Mari felt her teeth chattering involuntarily in the gloom. She wasn't scared of the dark per se, but the long nights were always the most difficult part of her captivity for her to endure. With she and Su's secrets revealed, the scrolls and many of the comforts of her cell had been removed, leaving her with nothing to keep her mind occupied. She huddled close into the corner, pulling Chichiri's soft cloak tighter around her shoulders as she closed her eyes and imagined someplace warm. Someplace calm and full of sunlight. She could practically see it, orange and glowing on the inside of her eyelids.

"Mari?" She opened her eyes to find Chichiri standing at the door to her cell, a bright lantern in hand. She smiled at him, slipping from her bed as her body gravitated toward the light.

"It's so late, I wasn't expecting you to come back today."

"Are you tired?" he asked, his head tilting to the side as he regarded her quietly. "I can leave if you'd rather sleep." She shook her head, hair tumbling around her face gently. He found himself swallowing back the urge to reach between the bars and brush it from her eyes.

"No. Stay, please? It's hard to sleep here. It's too quiet." She stepped back against the far wall out of habit as he produced the small key the warden had given him, opening the door and letting himself inside. She shifted awkwardly as he took in her nearly bare cell. "I'm sorry, they took most of it away."

"Tomorrow this will be finished, and then we can move you to chambers more suited to a lady." She smiled at this, a small chuckle escaping her lips.

"A lady." She repeated the words quietly. "I'm still amazed you call me that, even down here. I don't really live up to that title." She gestured to the bed, offering him the only seat she could. He sat quietly, pulling the mask from his face and rolling it in his hands nervously. She could see the uncertainty in his naked face as she sat next to him, waiting patiently for him to find the words he needed.

"Mari, I-" he paused. "I have not done right by you. I should never have–"

"Chichiri, you did what was right by you and your friends." she cut him off gently, her fingers brushing against his as she reached for him. "I probably would have made the same choices in your situation." The monk smiled sadly, his fingers wrapping around hers as he squeezed her hand gently. "Oh." Mari's gaze fell away from his, her eyes falling to the rough bandage wrapped around his hand. She quietly pulled it into her lap, cradling it in her hand as gentle fingers pulled the wrapping aside, revealing the angry red gash across his palm. He watched her as she let her fingers trail alongside the wound, mindful not to touch it and cause him undue pain. "You shouldn't have done that." There was a thickness in her voice, a sadness that deepened the tone, making him shiver slightly. "You shouldn't have hurt yourself for me." He freed his hand from her grasp, a finger reaching toward her neck and pushing aside the fabric at her collar, revealing the small red cut at the hollow of her throat. He ran his thumb over it without thinking, feeling her swallow heavily as her eyes flicked up to meet his gaze again. There was a something there, reflected back at him. It had been so long since someone had looked at him like that. He had forgotten the way it made his body stir.

"I..." Chichiri's voice failed him, sticking in his throat as he let his hand fall away. He watched with breath held as Mari reached for his face, unsure if it was the flickering of the lantern, or if her hands were shaking as her fingertips touched the edge of the scar that carved its way across his absent eye. The one remaining to him fell closed as he exhaled, lips parting softly.

"I don't want you to remember me like this." He felt her shift as she spoke. "With a cruel mark branded into your skin." Her hand remained, fingers resting along his cheek as her thumb traced a gentle path over his scar, ghosting along the fine lashes of his closed eye. Chichiri could feel her breath on his skin as she grew closer, the exhalation stirring his wild bangs before her lips came to rest over his scar, soft and warm.

It broke something within him, then. Something he had thought was long dead and buried. Eyes still closed, he reached for her, palm stinging against the warmth of her skin as he threaded his fingers into the hair at the base of her neck, lifting his face to find those warm lips with his own and devouring them with a fierce sigh as he pulled her into his lap, his other arm finding its way to her back and pressing her body to his with a ferocity that made her gasp against him. Her mouth fell away from his, sighing against his ear as his name fell from her lips, soft and breathy.

"Houjun." He pressed his face into the curve of her neck, lips brushing against her as she trembled in his arms.

"I shouldn't... I vowed that I would... Mari, tell me to stop this before I can't." he choked against her skin, words turning to a ragged moan as she fell against him once more, her tongue slipping between his lips. He abandoned his struggle, letting himself become lost in her, consequences be damned, as he leaned her back against the thin mattress. Pouring every lost moment, every apology, every unsaid word from the past several months into each kiss. Each caress. Tomorrow would come on its own time, with its own gravity.

Tonight, there was only her.

* * *

"Your Highness. We have the boy."

"Most excellent. Please show him in." The boy walked in, head bowed. He fell to his knees before Hotohori, pressing his head to the floor.

"Your Majesty!"

"You may rise, Dokun." Suboshi rose to his knees before the emperor of Konan, eyes remaining on the tile before him. "Young man, I understand you were born with a curious birthmark." At that, Suboshi's head snapped up, eyes burning into the emperor. How did he know? Hotohori smiled gently, "I gather from your reaction this is true. We believe it makes you Chiriko, one the seven warriors of Suzaku."

Suboshi froze. _Chiriko? Yes. Of course._ The plan of Nakago's that was destroyed along with his beloved brother when that traitorous woman had betrayed them for these fools. The general hadn't divulged much of the plan to them, but he had learned enough from his brother to fill in the blanks, ready to shoulder the role his brother was meant to play. "Your Majesty?" he ventured. _Please let him tell me more, please..._

"You should have special powers granted to you by the god, Suzaku. We have come to a time in our history when he is once again to be summoned. Our priestess has appeared, as has her warrior."

"Her warrior, Majesty?"

"Yes. The strange woman who appeared shortly after our priestess. Both she and her friend, believed to be an agent of Kutou, are safe within our walls." At Suboshi's poorly stifled gasp, the emperor chuckled. "Never fear boy, Seiryuu's pawn is here, safe in our dungeons. Kutou won't get their hands on her before we can summon our own god." Hotohori assured him.

_More the fool, you._ The thought rippled cruelly through Suboshi's mind.

"With you comes the last piece of the puzzle. The seven are assembled. The priestess is prepared." Here the emperor paused. "We hope you will acquiesce to help us raise Suzaku at dawn."

Suboshi paused, allowing a pensive look to grow across his face as his mind roared. _She's here, she's here, I'll get that traitor, she's here..._ "Of course your Majesty." He forced a smile. "As a faithful citizen of Konan, it would be an honor." Hotohori nodded, pleased, gesturing to the guards.

"Please show Master Chiriko to his rooms. You'd best get a good night's sleep, my boy. A long day lays ahead of us."

* * *

It was long dark when Su woke. She blinked the sleep from her eyes, mouth stretching in a yawn, which was abruptly frozen in a gape of panic when a soft snore sounded from above her. She muffled a squeak in the black cloth under her cheek. _Okay, WAIT._ Her brain shook itself awake, a grumpy cat finally roused fully from its sleep Somebody snoring? _Black cloth under your cheek? And is that a hand in your hair? And on your b-_ "EEP!" her squeal was louder this time as she carefully disentangled herself from the wiry arms wrapped in a rather intimate fashion around her and slipped from the bed. Her face immediately broke into a smirk at the sight of the disheveled bandit still asleep in her bed.

_Heh. Oh yeah, right, that._ She felt a small, girlish flutter in her chest as she recalled their evening with a hazy satisfaction, remembering his lips on hers as they had laid curled together on the bed. _Go get 'im, tiger._ She leaned over the bed to smooth the wild orange hair from his face, placing a soft kiss at the corner of his lips. He rolled toward her, his hand closing on her wrist. She grinned as she pulled away gently, whispering into the dark room. "Be back soon."

Su crept in slippered feet toward Mari's cell. It was late, but she couldn't wait until morning. Her fingers reached for the icy bars of the door, mouth opening to call to her sleeping friend as her eyes adjusted to the low light, taking in what lay before her. Chichiri lay at Mari's side, bathed in the soft glow of a lantern beside the bed, the light reflecting off of his skin and painting him amber. Mari lay curled against him in sleep, her head pillowed against his bare chest as his long fingers trailed through her hair. His mask off, Su could see the side of his face that was marred by a cruel scar. The scene took her breath away – his gaze upon her friend soft and caring as he studied her sleeping face, lost in private thought. She silently drew herself away from them, backing away down the hall and away from the cell as quietly as she could. This moment was a private thing, and there would be time to gossip in the morning. A smile crossed her lips as she turned to leave, crashing right into a stiff body.

"Oh!" she whispered, not wanting to disturb the couple in the cell. "I'm-" As she moved to discover who she had walked into, a strong hand came forward, cupping a cloth around her mouth, effectively silencing her words.

"Poor timing, girl." A mocking voice filled with barely suppressed rage hissed in her ear. She stiffened, spine turning to ice as she thrashed, struggled against his hands. Why was her head turning so muzzy? Why was everything going so blurry?

She slumped, unconscious, into Suboshi's waiting arms.


End file.
